Paul’s Defense Speech – #1

0:00 I want to give a brief update before I go into the text from a ministry partner of ours in Israel. We, Baruch Hashem, by we, I'm using the collective, this is all of us. We helped financially sponsor a women's conference that just ended up being able to meet this last weekend. It had to be postponed because of the war. But I want to read to you some of this. In fact, we've been supporting this women's conference, how many years now? Is it 10? Since its inception. Since its inception. So, I think it's been about 10 years, something like that.

0:49 So this conference was on April 17th. As many of you are aware, there has been wars and rumors of wars in the world. But Israel was at war, but the ceasefire had begun the prior Sunday, and until that Wednesday of that week, the home front command was only allowing 50 people to gather in the area of the conference because of the number of missiles that were coming down. That number, the Wednesday before the conference, was changed to 1,000. All the speakers and the main worship leader were still available to share, and they only had to find one worship leader for one afternoon session

1:35 for this women's conference. They had enough small group leaders. I want you to conceptually think about this. They had enough small group leaders who were available and came to have 47 small groups in the afternoon gathering. Ten languages. 10 languages? Oh, I don't think I remember reading that. 10. The conference was in 10 different languages. They had- Or they had representatives, small groups in 10 different languages. I should just let you give this update, not me. But, I just want you to understand, there's a series of things that had to happen for

2:22 this to happen. The women's conference, in fact, there were 800 women who came out of the 877. They came with three days notice. I want you to understand that. It's not a, "Hey, we're going to plan the conference two months out." It's, "We'll be there in two days." It had been postponed. And it had already been postponed because of the war. So these 800 women came, but there was a rescheduled winter marathon in Jerusalem where they basically shut down the city, and so people are not allowed to go in or out. But because of a heat wave, the marathon was

3:10 changed to a half marathon, and it didn't shut down the entire city, which allowed many of these women to get out of Jerusalem and go to the conference. Let's see. I told you there were 800 women. There were three speakers, and three women from the US were able to buy tickets and to come because their theme was Crown of Beauty for Ashes. And three women from the US were able to buy tickets and get to Israel with 850 crowns for the women. Can you just imagine going through Israeli security with 850 crowns? My goodness. Those women, they need to be

3:58 celebrated. The youngest person in attendance was the 14-year-old daughter of one of the speakers, and the oldest was in her 90s. That's the range of age. And I think I remember, oh yeah, because of the state of Israel... Israel, by the way, it's quite difficult to plan anything in Israel. Not because it's Israel, but because it's Israel in war. And so in this, it ended up being that several male pastors ended up coming to this gathering, partially to be encouraged,

4:45 and they left encouraged. But I remember read- Three P's. Yeah, that's what I was looking for. There has never been a Hebrew gathering this large in modern Israel for the body of Messiah. Is that right? So the modern state of Israel is, what, we just hit 78? Is that right? 78 years. This is the largest gathering of Hebrew-speaking believers in Yeshua in the modern history of Israel. What an amazing thing.

5:33 So is there anything else you want me to share, or do you want to share? The two women- No, you can't do it without a microphone. I'm going to speak on behalf of the media team here. You got to have a microphone. Listen, I just started this. The two women who actually put this conference together originated here at Baruch Hashem, one almost 40 years ago, and one about, mm, 32 years agoSo we've had it in part with these women for all these years, and it's a very exciting thing for me to have seen this happen and for you guys, for our congregation, to participate so generously The women

6:19 were hugely blessed. We thank you. It's an encouragement partially because our women's retreat is next week. Oh, okay. Only three of you are going. Good. Or at least only three of you are excited. Four. I got four. Do I have five? We are jumping back into the book of Acts today. It's been almost a month that we've been out of the book of Acts.

7:07 As a reminder, I know I do this every time I talk from the book of Acts, but it's especially necessary today because we've been out of the book of Acts for a month. So I want you to understand where we are in the timeline, where we are in the story. Paul has gone up to Jerusalem in Acts 21. He's arrested because there's a mob that forms against him in Acts 21, and he's nearly flogged in Acts 22. He's brought before the Sanhedrin in Acts 22 and 23 and gives a defense of himself there. And then there is a plot to murder him that develops, and Paul is rushed off to Caesarea in the end of Acts 23. There, he stands trial before Governor Felix with the high priest, some elders, and a lawyer present in Acts 24.

7:56 And then Acts 24 is both short but also long in terms of time, because Governor Felix refuses to give a ruling, render a ruling, because he's trying to get a bribe out of Paul. So he goes for two years trying to get a bribe out of Paul, and it doesn't happen. So after two years, Porcius Festus replaces Felix as governor in Acts chapter 25, and he's now trying to clear the docket of cases that he has to oversee. And so he comes and he gets into this case. He thinks it's going to be easy. He goes to Jerusalem. He tries to take Paul to Jerusalem. Paul says, "Nope. I'm not going there. You can take me to Caesar."

8:41 And he goes... I just want you to think about this. Porcius Festus is new to this case, and he's looking at this and he's like, "This doesn't seem like it requires Caesar's attention. How can I fix this so that I'm not the one who gets in trouble for sending an inconsequential case to Caesar?" I just want you to notice how much respect Felix had for Festus that he left him this case when it was his case to settle. So Festus is going through this, and now all of a sudden, King Agrippa II and his sister Bernice show up on the scene in Acts chapter 25.

9:27 And he goes, "Oh, maybe you could consult with me on this case." And so here we are in Acts 26, and I'm going to give just a one-sentence overview of Acts chapter 26. Acts chapter 26 is all about King Agrippa and the others present, but especially King Agrippa, hearing Paul's defense and providing his feedback to Festus. That's what the whole chapter is, but we're going to break it down into three parts because you guys know me, I can't get through a chapter. I barely can get through 10 verses in the amount of time I have on Saturdays. And today, we have 11 verses. So

10:15 we're going to only cover the introduction to Paul's defense today and his first stage of life that occurs within his defense. So in the next week, we will finish up. We'll wrap up what he speaks in his own defense, and then following that, we'll come and we'll wrap up the chapter. But for sake of the longevity of the chapter, we had to break it up into a couple different spots. So I'll read... Hmm, what will I read? Let's do this. I'm going to read his whole defense so that you can hear it before Agrippa. And so we're going to read chapter 26.

11:11 Sorry, this was not on my plan to do. We're going to go through verse 29. "Agrippa said to Paul, 'It is permitted for you to speak for yourself.' Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense: 'Concerning all I am accused of by the Judean leaders, I consider myself fortunate, King Agrippa, that it is before you that I am able to make my defense today, since you are especially knowledgeable about all Jewish customs and issues. Therefore, I beg you to listen patiently to me. Now all the Jewish people have known my manner of life ever since my youth, starting from the beginning in my own nation and also in Jerusalem.

11:56 They have known about me for a long time, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee.'"Yet now I stand here being judged for the hope and the promise made by God to our fathers. It is the promise that our 12 tribes hope to obtain as they earnestly worship day and night. And for this hope, I am accused by Jewish people, O King. Why is it judged incredible by any of you that God raises the dead? In fact, I myself thought it was necessary to do many things in opposition to the name of Yeshua HaNotsrati,

12:41 and that is what I did in Jerusalem. Not only did I lock up many of the Kadoshim in prisons by the authority I received from the ruling Kohanim, but I cast my vote against them when they were being condemned to death. I tried to cause them to blaspheme by punishing them often in the synagogues. In furious rage against them, I persecuted them even in foreign cities. While journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the ruling Kohanim, at midday, O King, I saw on the road a light from heaven brighter than the sun shining around me and those traveling with me. When we had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice say to me in Aramaic,

13:30 "Shaul, Shaul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against goads." Then I said, "Who are you, Lord?" And the Lord said, "I am Yeshua, whom you are persecuting. But get up and stand on your feet." Excuse me. "But get up and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose: to anoint you as a servant and witness to the things you have seen, as well as to the things I will yet reveal to you. I will rescue you from your own people

14:16 and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so they may turn from the darkness to the light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive release from sins, as well as a place among those who are made holy through trusting in me." Therefore, O Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. Rather, I kept declaring, first to those in Damascus and then Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds consistent with that repentance. For this reason, some Judeans seized me in the temple and tried to put me to death. Since I have had God's help to this day,

15:02 I have stood here testifying to both small and great. I am saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said was going to happen, that the Messiah was to suffer and that being first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the nations. As Paul was thus making his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, "You're crazy, Paul. Your great learning is driving you insane." But Paul declares, "I am not insane, most noble Festus, rather I am speaking the sober truth. For the king knows about these things, and I speak freely with him, since I am convinced that none of these things escape his notice, for this was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, do you believe the

15:48 prophets? I know that you do believe." Agrippa said to Paul, "In a short time, you are trying to persuade me to be Messianic?" And Paul said, "Whether short or long, I would pray to God that not only you but also all who hear me today would be such as I am, except for these chains." We're going to stop there because that's the end of Paul's defense of himself. But you now have basically a complete picture of what Paul is presenting before Agrippa. It's quite fascinating. So let's see if we can break some of this down into more understandable bites. So Agrippa,

16:36 number one, is permitting Paul to address him and those assembled. So this whole thing is given as an address before this assembly, but especially before Agrippa, who whether coincidentally or not, has come to welcome Festus into this position. So I want to... Let's see. No, I don't want to yet. So Agrippa permits Paul. Yeah, I do want to. Sorry, I'm going to see if I can't mirror my screen for just a moment. Oops.

17:28 You preset all these things, and then technology thinks it's smarter than you. But technology doesn't know that my brain is way smarter than it. No, I'm just playing. Okay, let's try that. A or B? A. Thank you. It's trying. There we go. All right. So before we get going, what I want to show you is I spent a whole week on this, and I love it. I don't know about you guys, but I love to see

18:13 whatWhat could have been. So this is a rendering of what could've been Caesarea during this time period. Let's see. I think I have another... Oh, no. Okay, well... I was about to give it a shot with something else. It'll

18:59 catch up with me in a minute. I wanted just to give you a potential rendering. I've got three more clicks. There we go, and big. Three, two, one. Amen. I don't know how that worked, but this is a potential rendering of where Paul is addressing Agrippa. So Paul is somewhere, I would presume, in this area.

19:46 Let me see. Here we go. Let's look at this one. This one actually labels it out for us. Okay, well, it'll catch up in a minute. Paul's addressing this crowd, which is King Agrippa, and he's a king. He may not be King of Judea, but he is a king. In fact, he is the last of the kings. He ends up fleeing in 66 just before Jerusalem is sacked in 70. Oh, yeah. Good, it caught up with me. So they are, in this person's opinion,

20:33 the audience hall. This is in the text, but they're in the audience hall here, which is up where it says B. I was trying to show you, but it'll take a little bit. Yeah, there you go. Up on the top. They're in the audience hall, and Paul is addressing them, and he's been brought from where he was being held prisoner, and he's still in chains. That's what we know in the text. So he's addressing Agrippa, and now he has to tell Agrippa kind of everything that's the trial. So what I want us to do today, we're going to do a couple things that are not necessarily in the text. Number one, we're going to remember what Paul was accused of. Because he says in this text,

21:22 "Concerning all that I am accused of by the Judean leaders." So he doesn't list it all out here for Agrippa, but I want us to understand what Paul's accused of. By the way, did you guys get packets that you can fill out stuff? Yeah. Is there anybody who needs a packet who doesn't have one, and is there anybody who could deliver a packet for them? I don't know. Sorry. All of a sudden... Thank you, Lydia. So what was he accused of? We have to go back actually a couple chapters just to find the accusation.

22:08 So in Acts chapter 24, he's accused. This is when the lawyer is there in front of Felix and he says, "Oh, sweet Governor Felix, mighty and holy," and all the platitudes that he can give to Felix. In this moment, he accuses Paul, number one, of being a pest. Number two, of being an agitator among the Jews throughout the world. Number three, he accuses him of being a ringleader of what, he uses the term the sect of the Nazira team, or the Nazirites. And then he says the final one, which is the real

22:55 accusation. He says, "He tried to profane the temple but was arrested by the leadership in Jerusalem." You see, this is where it all starts, if you remember. And so let's go back to the original accusation, which is earlier in, I think it's Acts 21 or 22. The original accusation is that he brought a Gentile into the temple to offer sacrifices in an area or a place where Gentiles were not authorized to be. This is the fascinating thing. Those accusers stir up a mob. If you can raise your hand if you need a piece of paper, if you want to stay awake.

23:40 Those accusers, they're the ones who stir up the mob against Paul, and then the Romans rush in to dispel the mob, actually, and they pull Paul out because they think he's the leader. But those accusers never make it to court in Caesarea because it says that there were some... In the text. Let me go back to the text because I don't want to misquote.In Acts chapter 21, there were Jewish leaders from Asia. This is Asia not like

24:28 China the world power, but Asia like modern-day Turkey. There were some Jewish leaders from Asia who saw Paul in the temple, and they began stirring up the whole crowd. They're the Jewish leaders from Asia. This is where Ephesus is. This is where Paul has gone all through this area in Asia. He's even written a letter to the Galatians who are in proximity to Asia, if you will. And now it's these Jewish leaders who stir the mob up, but also never show up to court. And so this is the accusation that then we've spent five chapters on it.

25:16 Paul says, "I consider myself fortunate that I get to make my defense before you, Agrippa." Why? Well, number one, this is what Paul says. He declares that Agrippa is especially knowledgeable about all Jewish customs and issues. Why would Agrippa be especially knowledgeable? Well, let me show you why, and we did this last time. Oops. This is not complete and it'll take about 30 seconds to catch up with me, I'm sure. This is not a fully complete family tree of King Agrippa II,

26:02 but you can tell by his name, King Herod Agrippa, that he's related or a descendant of Herod the Great, and his father was King Herod Agrippa I, which remind us, I think it was in Acts 10, 11, 12, somewhere right in there. He walks out and the sun hits his shining robe and he goes, "Ah." And the people praise him and he's like, "Oh, I'm such a god." And then he's eaten from the inside out by worms, which is lovely. That's his father who was the last king of Judea. He became king in, I think, 36 and then died in 44, I think. So his reign would've been, what is that? Eight years.

26:52 Well, I thought this was going to catch up. Should I disconnect Joshua? Try this again. Here we go. Herod Agrippa. So you can see he's the son of King Herod Agrippa I, who is the son of Aristobulus, who is the son of Mariamne, who is the wife of King Herod the Great. She is a Hasmonean princess. Now, who are the Hasmoneans? They are the descendants, they are the

27:39 ruling class of Israel. They're the descendants of the Maccabees. Why are the Maccabees so famous? Why do the Hasmoneans have so much influence? Because the Maccabees saved Israel, like 150 years earlier. The Maccabees had all of this influence for good, and then they kind of got what is known as Hellenized. They kind of drifted away. What would that make her? One, two. His great-grandmother-- Is that what she is? -- was Jewish. But also, his mother, she's not listed on this one.

28:30 It's funny that we're talking about it with this week's Torah portion. But his mother is also his father's cousin, which this often happens in royal families. But his mother is also of the Hasmonean princess line. And so King Agrippa II likely actually is closely related... Not closely related. He is Jewish, even halakhically, but also he probably has some level of involvement in the Jewish community. From a Roman side of view. So

29:16 Herod Agrippa has probably some understanding here. Okay. So now, we're going to continue in Paul's defense. "Now all the Jewish people have known my manner of life ever since youth," this is in verse four, "Ever since my youth, starting from the beginning in my own nation and also in Jerusalem. They have known about me for..." Actually, let's just stop there for a moment. All the Jewish people have known the manner of Paul's life since his youth, starting with those who knew him from the beginning in his own nation. Okay. This is important to back up. Nope, not there. How about here? Yeah.

30:02 It is important to back up and remember, Paul is not from Judea. He is not born in Judea. Paul is born and raised in Tarsus, Cilicia. So you can see Tarsus is there if you follow the line. This is from an earlier text in Acts. Tarsus is right there in that opening across the bay from AntiochAntioch and Tarsus were the entry port to the eastern world. So from here, you have the Silk Road that goes all the way to China and all commerce that goes east goes through here. And so the Jewish community probably was relatively influential.

30:51 Probably had some shipping companies and so on and so forth. And Paul was likely known, well, he says he's known, by all the Jewish people in this area which means his family is prominent. That's how I read it. But when he comes of a certain age, an age where he can go and study underneath the most preeminent rabbi of the time, then his family sends him to Jerusalem, and he studies under Rabbi Gamaliel in Jerusalem. And he must have excelled in his class because he shoots to the top of his class and he becomes one of the most

31:41 influential students of all of Gamaliel's students. How do I know this? Because of some text in the Book of Acts. And we're going to have to go two years in our memory if you've been here for two years and if you haven't, go read the Book of Acts. We have to go two years back. I'm trying to think, do I do this later? Oh, yeah. No, I'll do this in a minute. I have a point for this. So they've known him, Paul, for this significant amount of time, and then he says that

32:26 "I was of the sect, the most religious sect, and they knew me as I lived as a Pharisee." Now, it's a fascinating term because the last time Paul refers to himself like this, and actually when he refers to himself in the letters that he writes, he doesn't say, "I was." He says, "I'm a Pharisee. Among the Pharisees. I live as a Pharisee. I'm known as a Pharisee." But here, it's in the past tense, and so I went and looked this up and this is what Stern says. Stern says, "This verb tense implies an action accomplished in the past that has effects continuing into the present." Which means it still is applicable, if that makes sense.

33:12 Yes, it was that way, but it's also still influential in that manner. So Paul qualifies this statement by saying that the Pharisees, at least his stream or his sect of the Pharisees, were the strictest of all of the Jewish religion. And why is Paul doing all of this? He's presenting before King Agrippa, and mind you, Festus is listening. He's presenting this and he's couching everything, or he's qualifying everything as if it were a matter of religious disagreement. Why is that important? Because religious disagreements weren't adjudicated by Rome.

33:58 They were adjudicated by the Sanhedrin. And he's saying all of this is religious. None of it has to do with Rome. But I appeal to Caesar. It's really a fascinating thing the way Paul builds this whole argument. Basically, he's saying, "They've brought me before you in an undue manner. They're not acting justly, they're acting crookedly according to both the Torah and according to Roman law." This is what Paul's argument ultimately boils down to. So now he goes on. He says, "Yet now I stand here being judged," he continues in the religious argument, "for the hope in the promise made

34:44 by God to our fathers. It is the promise that our 12 tribes hope to obtain as they earnestly worship day and night, night and day. And for this hope, I am accused by the Jewish people, O King. Why is it judged incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?" Okay. And this is a hugely important element. What is the core belief within the Jewish religion, at least with the sect of the Pharisees? We're going to go back because this is very important, it's even important today. Genesis 12, God makes some promises. In Genesis 12, he says to Abraham, "I will make you into a great nation.

35:34 I will bless you. I will make your name great. I will bless those who bless you, and I will give this land to your seed." Verses one through seven of chapter 12 in Genesis. These promises are what gave Abraham the confidence in the resurrection when the Lord asked him to offer Isaac as a burnt offering. So we're starting in Genesis 12 and we're going to move quickly here. We go to Genesis 22 and the Lord says, "Abraham, I want you to take your son, your only son, your son whom you love, Isaac." Some of us, we like to find loopholes. At least I do. I love loopholes.

36:22 He's like, "Your son, your only son, the one you love, Isaac."There are no loopholes out of that one. He says, "I want you to take your son, your only son, the one whom you love, Isaac, and I want you to offer him as a burnt offering." Now, I don't want to exert too much commentary but I suspect that any one of us dads might have a second thought like, "Did I hear you right?" Or, "Let me clean my ears out. I don't think I heard that right." Or, "I don't think I can do that."

37:08 But Abraham says... Actually, Abraham doesn't say anything. The text tells us that Abraham wakes up early in the morning, saddles the donkey, takes Isaac and some servants, and they go. And they go for three days. Now, Jewish tradition tells us, some Jewish tradition. When I say Jewish tradition, it means there's lots of different traditions. And one of them says that Abraham considered as if Isaac was dead from the moment that the Lord made his request. That the moment the Lord made his request, said, "Offer your son as a burnt offering," Abraham had already done it, and that he then traveled with Isaac for three days expecting Isaac to be

37:55 resurrected when he actually was offered. This is an important element to note, that he was dead in Abraham's mind for three days. Three. Three days in the grave before resurrected. The promises by God to our fathers was a promise that necessitated an eternal perspective with fulfillment. So an eternal perspective means that it's longer than our 60, 70, 80, 120 years that we live on this earth. An eternal perspective doesn't take that. It means that it's far beyond us, if that makes sense.

38:43 So when God makes these promises to Abraham, they're eternal promises. And if they're eternal promises and they're not yet fulfilled, then at some point, they will be. But even if Isaac-- So let's come back to Isaac for a moment because this is always one of my most fascinating passages to teach, and I'll try not to because it'll take me an hour. Isaac, in my opinion, is in his mid to upper 30s. And it's also a Jewish tradition because it's based upon when Abraham comes down with Isaac. Isaac goes and tells his mom, and the next thing we

39:29 hear about his mom is she dies, which sounds like a Jewish mother response to a Jewish father's potential sacrifice of her son. Anyways, that was slightly comedic. But anyways, so she dies at 127, which would make him 36, 37. That's how you get to this reasoning. But he's there, but also he carries the wood up the mountain. And I think I said this sometime, or maybe it was at Passover. I love my children. My children are almost six, almost 12, and almost 10, and not one of them could carry the firewood up the mountain

40:16 if I asked them to. Now, some of you young men who are, wow, man, who are in your mid-30s, you could carry firewood up a mountain. So you can see how I can come to this conclusion. So even if Isaac had been offered as a burnt offering, Abraham's faith was so strong that he believed that Isaac would be resurrected from the dead before he came back to his servants, which he left at the base of the mountain. Why? Because he says to the servants, "The boy and I will go and we will return." He has confidence in the resurrection of his son

41:02 based upon the power of God. Hallelujah. By the way, I'm framing this as if, because it is, as if this is all core belief in Judaism. These are foundational stories in the Jewish life of the Jewish people. This covenant that was cut with Abraham was reaffirmed and cut with Isaac in Genesis 26, and then again with Jacob in Genesis 28 and, excuse me, 35. And Jacob then goes down with his whole household to Egypt. I feel like I'm telling the Passover story again. He goes down with his whole

41:47 tribe to Egypt, and what emerged from Egypt are 12 tribes that form a people. They're no longer the family of Jacob. They are now the 12 tribes of Israel, the people of God. That's who emerges from Egypt after 400 years of slavery. When they emerge, what does God bring them out for? He doesn't bring them out to be free. He brings them out for a singular purpose. Anybody remember? That's right. He brings them out to worship Him. He tells Moses, "Go and ask for three days leave to go

42:33 worship."And that's what all Passover's about. Pharaoh does all these stupid things and doesn't listen. And instead of losing the people for three days, he ends up losing them all, for good. And so they're brought out to worship earnestly day and night, night and day. This is Paul's argument here. This may be beginning to evoke images of temple service, temple sacrifice, in your mind, and it should be evoking that imagery.

43:19 Because it also connects us to what Luke has already written in Luke 2 when he's talking about Anna. Anna's serving in the temple, doing what? Serving. Serving the Lord day and night, night and day. By the way, the term serve and the term worship are the exact same Hebrew term. It's the same word. She's there worshiping the Lord, serving him in the temple day and night. And this is what Paul talks about, the 12 tribes, this is what they emerge from Egypt for the purpose of. And by the time we come to this time period of Yeshua, of Paul, there are two central prayers within Judaism. Same central prayers are prevalent today,

44:06 and you guys all know them. Number one is the Shema, and number two is the Amidah. The two central prayers of Judaism. The Shema says, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one." And the Amidah talks about praising the Lord, entering his gates with thanksgiving, being grateful to him, and then when you get into the middle section with the request, praying for the future redemption of the people of Israel and the establishment of the kingdom of God on Earth through what is known as the kingdom of Israel.

44:52 These, by the way, these prayers were said day and night, night and day, at the temple in temple service. It's my personal opinion, and I think I can back it up, that when Yeshua's disciples come to him and say, "Teach us to pray," he says, "Our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy..." I'm sorry, this King James. I don't know why, but that one, that one is always in King James. But anyways, to me, again, this is my opinion, what Yeshua instructs them to pray is his, if you will, commentary on the fluidity of the

45:40 Amidah in the first century. He says, "This is how I want you to pray the Amidah, like this." And every rabbi had their own interpretation, by the way. But, what does he say? I'm fast-forwarding in Matthew 6. He says, "Your kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven." You see how central this is to Jewish thought that the coming kingdom of God will be here? It is this hope, now I'm coming all the way back to Paul,

46:26 because all of these elements are central to Paul's understanding at the moment in his presentation. It is this hope that Paul has been accused of by the Jewish people. This is what he says, "It's for this hope that I've been accused by the Jewish people." It's the hope of the Jewish people. But it's for this-- By the way, I'm going to leave you without a solution, because the solution comes next week in next week's text. But it's for the hope from the promises given by God at this time in Second Temple Judaism, in first century of the Common Era.

47:14 Within Judaism, within all of Judaisms, the hope from the promises given by God had already become connected with the resurrection and the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel under the rulership of the promised seed of David. Okay, so one final element to include in this. We have in 2 Samuel 7 a covenant that God cuts with David and says, "Your seed will sit upon the throne forever." It's quite fascinating, because in order for a

48:01 singular king to sit upon the throne forever, the king has to be eternal. Or, let's just take it out of that thought for the moment, that king, even if he dies, has to be resurrected to be able to continue to reign on the throne. Which again forms the foundational belief of the Pharisaic party in this time period of resurrection. Okay. Everything that is what Paul is here describing as the hope of Israel hinges on the resurrection of the dead.Everything. The coming kingdom hinges on the

48:50 resurrection. The establishment of the covenant with Abraham and Isaac hinged on the resurrection of Isaac. And everything in between hinges on the resurrection of the dead, whether it occurs now or in the future. So the hope that Paul is being accused of here is all about the resurrection. And so Paul here, he says, "Why is the resurrection of the dead judged by all of you?" Now, I want you to know he's switching to Texan. He says, "Why is the resurrection of the dead judged by all y'all?"

49:36 And in my text, it says, "Incredible." Another translation of the word would be unbelievable. Not incredible like, "Wow, that's incredible," but like, "That's not real. It's unbelievable." He says, "Why is the resurrection of the dead judged as unbelievable by you?" If the resurrection is impossible, so is the coming Messianic Kingdom. He's tying all of this together, and then next week, he throws the solution into his speech, and we'll get to it next week. So let's continue. "In fact, I myself thought it was necessary to do many things in opposition to the name of Yeshua HaNotsrati," in verse nine. And continuing, "And that is what I did in

50:25 Jerusalem. Not only did I lock up many of the Kedoshim, the holy ones, in prisons by the authority I received from the ruling Kohanim, or the priests, but I cast my vote against them when they were being condemned to death. I tried to cause them to blaspheme by punishing them often in the synagogues. In furious rage against them, I persecuted them even in foreign cities." Paul is continuing, and he's built all of this now, the hope in Judaism based upon the resurrection of the dead for the coming kingdom. He's built all of that as this is common within Judaism. And he says, "I found it necessary to do these things in opposition to

51:10 Yeshua," because he's still thinking that Yeshua is in opposition to the resurrection of the dead and the coming kingdom. So Paul is guarding, if you will, the Jewish world from outside influence. He says, "I thought it was necessary to do all of these things." So what has Luke already written in this regard? Paul oversaw and approved the stoning of Stephen in Acts chapter eight, verses one through three. It says he was in agreement with the stoning of Stephen. Paul was destroying Messiah's community. By the way, this is his agreement of Stephen. This is where I derive that he was one of Gamaliel's top students because it was him who oversaw

51:58 the inaction of the punishment, and everybody else, it says that their coats, they left their coats at his feet, and he oversaw the rendering of the judgment, which would be done by someone high up in influence. Paul was destroying Messiah's community. He entered into many houses and dragged men and women off and threw them into prison, and the community was scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Paul was super good at his job until the light appeared to him, but that's next week's text. Looking at the time, let me boil a couple of things down real quick.

52:44 Number one, he cast his vote against them when they were being condemned to death. Here, he could be referencing Stephen's death. He cast his vote against Stephen. Paul tried to cause them to blaspheme by punishing them in the synagogues. I don't know if you remember when we were talking about this. It could mean that he was lashing them in the synagogue. They were permitted up to 39 lashes. This is the Roman scourge, which I showed a couple of months ago. Could Paul have been in the synagogues punishing them, trying to get them to blaspheme?

53:31 That's what he says he was doing. Whether it was this or not, we don't know. And then he even went to foreign cities to persecute them. And it's on his way to Damascus where he has a life experience that brings change. So Paul, in this first section, Paul has provided the foundation of the Jewish religious belief system and how he was one of the first and one of the most severe in persecuting the followers of Yeshua. Why? Because he thought it was correct. He didn't do it because he found joy in it. He did it because he thought it was correct. So we're going to stop there,

54:17 and we're going to jump into the text next week when Paul continues. But I want to leave you with a few questions. Number one, how do we engage with those before whom we are brought? When we are brought in before someone, what do we do? How do we engage them? How do we address them? How do we treat them?Likely if we are brought in before someone, it's not for a good reason. This is what I was going to say. I brought somebody to my office recently,

55:04 and it was actually for a good reason, and they go, "I feel like I'm being called to the principal's office." And I was like, "You're not." But most often we are called before the principal's office, and when somebody brings us before someone else, how do we engage that audience? How do we treat them? Are we kind? We may be there on false accusations. We may have every right to be indignant. But I just want to encourage us to remember how Yeshua behaved when he was brought before others.

55:50 How Paul is behaving. Paul is being very respectful, mind you, of all of these different people who are in charge. He's being extremely mindful. Okay, my second question: What is the foundation of your hope? You see, the foundation of Paul's hope was quite specific. The foundation of Paul's hope was rooted in Genesis 12, was further exhibited in Genesis 22, was ratified again in Genesis 26, and again in 28, and again in 35, and again and again and again and again over the years of God's faithfulness to his people. So the hope that Paul has is sure.

56:38 So my question to you, is your hope founded in the promise-keeping God who cut a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and has promised repeatedly to remain faithful to his word and his promises? Because if your hope does not include that, then I'll tell you, your hope is upon shaky ground. Because if God can break his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, then his covenant with you, his word with you means nothing. So be extremely cautious about what you place your hope in

57:28 and whether or not it's rooted in the scripture. Finally, in terms of the connection with this week's story, how does our own personal story factor into the way that we present Yeshua as the Messiah King? I want you to think about that because your story matters. In fact, Revelation tells us it's by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony or the word of your story that you overcome the accusations of the accuser.

58:17 Your story matters. Paul uses his story. He says, "I did all of these things." Do you think Paul was proud that he was the one who oversaw the stoning of Stephen? I just think about it. Paul refers to himself as the most wretched of men, and I think-- I have zero textual basis for this, but I can't help but wonder if Paul thought every day and remembered every day that he was responsible for the stoning of Stephen. Stephen, by the way, was comparable to Paul in terms of eloquence and presenting the

59:05 gospel before others. He was as persuasive as Paul. When you think about Paul could just be there going, "Man, this could have been a dynamic duo. Instead, it's just me because of my actions." But Paul doesn't sit and wallow in that. He uses it for the purpose of telling his story as to why he believes what he believes now. He's in front of the king, the great-grandson of the king who tried to kill Yeshua as a baby.

59:52 The son of the king who killed James, the brother of John. The great nephew of the man who beheaded John the Immerser. Just think about all of these things that we all know and we think are unrelated, but this is all a family story. It may not be rated family-friendly, but this is all in the text of the Gospels. And Paul utilizes his own story for the presentation of Yeshua as the Messiah King, and we

1:00:40 will get there next week. So, Avinu shebashamayim, our Father in heaven. Lord, we thank you for this text. Lord, I thank you for Paul. I thank you for his faithfulness to follow you. Lord, I thank you for his diligence to speak when asked. And Lord, I pray that we can walk away from today and learn something from the life of Paul. We bless you in Yeshua's name, amen. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

1:01:34 Yevarechecha Adonai ve'yishmerecha. Ya'er Adonai panav elecha vechunecha. Yisa Adonai panav elecha ve'yasem lecha shalom. Beshem Yeshua haMashiach. In the name of our Messiah, Yeshua. Shabbat shalom.

1:02:20 Shabbat shalom.