"Granny's Chapters" Part 26

G.o.d no longer required it to be observed: therefore, if the Jews chose still to observe it, they must not imagine that by doing so they would now find favour with G.o.d: the only way to gain his favour was by believing in Jesus Christ, and trying, out of love for Him, to obey all the commands and precepts of the Gospel: all who thus strove to please G.o.d, would find favour in His sight, whether they kept the ceremonial Law or not. The Jewish converts at Jerusalem, not clearly understanding what St. Paul had taught, were set against him; and as they would be sure to meet together to discuss the matter, as soon as they heard of his arrival, the elders now said to one another, "What is it therefore?"--that is, what can be done to quiet the fears of these Jewish brethren. The plan that the Apostles and elders now proposed, was one that would show the Jews, that St. Paul did not think it _wrong_ to observe the forms of the Law, though he taught that it was not _necessary_ to do so. What this plan was, we shall hear from what they now said to St. Paul, "Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law."

To understand this speech, we must remember that even in the time of Moses, the Children of Israel were in the habit of showing their piety, and their wish to serve G.o.d, by devoting themselves for a time to the performance of special acts of wors.h.i.+p; separating themselves from their brethren, for the observance of certain forms and ceremonies. A person who thus separated himself for a time from others by a particular profession of religion, was called a Nazarite; and the Lord Himself gave Moses directions, as to the outward forms and ceremonies to be observed by every one, who should vow the vow of a Nazarite. To take the vow of a Nazarite was a _voluntary_ act; that is, it was at the choice of any person to take it: but once taken, the person who had thus devoted himself to the special service of G.o.d, was neither to drink wine, nor any of the drinks made from fruits or honey: he was to drink water only, that his head might be cool and clear, and better able to attend to his religious studies and exercises. Then he was not to shave his head, nor to cut his hair; neither was he to do any of the things usually done upon the death of a relation, because such mourning for the dead would render him unclean.

Some persons vowed themselves to be Nazarites for life; others only for a certain number of years, months, or even days: and at the end of the time, the Nazarite was to bring certain offerings unto the priest to be presented to the Lord: then he was to shave his head at the door of the tabernacle, and burn the hair in the fire which consumed the peace offerings. After all the appointed ceremonies had been gone through, the Nazarite was free from his vow, and might return to live like other people. You will, I hope, remember Samson, who was a Nazarite from his birth; and who fell into great trouble, because his vow was broken, when his hair was cut off by Delilah.

Now at the time when St. Paul came to Jerusalem, there were four men there, who had taken the vows of a Nazarite for a short time: their time was nearly out, and the elders proposed that St. Paul should join them in abstaining (or keeping) from such things, as they were forbidden to do; and that he should "be at charges with them," that is, pay for the sacrifices they must offer, before they could shave their heads, and be free from their vows. The Jews looked upon it as an act of piety, for any person to pay the expenses of those who had taken the vow of a Nazarite.

We have now seen what the elders advised St. Paul to do, in order to show the Jews that he was no _enemy_ to the Law of Moses, and did not think it _wrong_ to observe its forms, if people liked to do so, though it was unnecessary. And they added, "As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication": thus repeating that decision of the Church, with which the teaching of St.

Paul agreed.

"Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them." All this was done for the sake of peace, and to make the Jews more willing to listen to St. Paul. Some people think it was not right nor wise to act in this manner, because it might lead man to believe, that the Law _ought_ to be observed in all its ceremonies, and that St. Paul's practice did not quite agree with his preaching.

At any rate it had not the effect of satisfying the Jews; on the contrary, it caused a serious disturbance. "When the seven days were almost ended," some unbelieving Jews of Asia, who had persecuted St.

Paul in their own country, and were now come to Jerusalem for the same purpose, "when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him, crying out, Men of Israel, help: this is the man, that teacheth all men everywhere against the people, and the law, and this place." They declared that St. Paul, by his teaching, was taking away from the Jews all their privileges as the chosen people of G.o.d, and putting the heathen on an equality with them; that he taught men not to respect the law, nor to reverence the temple; and that he did not reverence it himself, but had polluted and defiled it; for, said they, he "brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place." This they said, because they had seen an Ephesian convert, named Trophimus, in the city with St. Paul, and "supposed that Paul had brought (him) into the temple"; which of course he had not done: because, though he knew that the entrance of a true Christian into the temple would not be displeasing to G.o.d, he knew that it would greatly offend the Jews, if any one who had been a Gentile, went any further than the outer court of the temple, set apart for the Gentiles: and he did not wish to offend or vex the Jews needlessly. We should never do anything to vex or grieve others, unless it is our _duty_ to do it. Our duty we must do, whatever be the consequence.

The Jews, who now tried to stir up the people against St. Paul, succeeded to their utmost wish in raising a disturbance, for "all the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they took Paul, and drew him out of the temple: and forthwith the doors were shut. And as they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar." The band here spoken of, was the Roman garrison, or party of soldiers, posted in Jerusalem, to keep the city in order, and prevent any kind of disturbance or riot amongst the Jews. The chief captain of this band, at the time we are speaking of, was a Roman named Claudius Lysias; "who," upon hearing of the uproar, "immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them." They had not far to go, for the place in which they were posted was the castle of Antonia, close to the north-west corner of the temple. This castle, or strong tower, had been built by Herod the Great: it was so high, that from the upper part, the soldiers on watch could see what was going on in the two outer courts of the temple: they would therefore have seen St. Paul dragged out of the temple by an angry mob, and they would at once have taken these tidings to their captain, who went down with all haste, and arrived in time to save the Apostle's life; for the Jews feared the Roman soldiers, and when they saw them, "they left beating of Paul"--that is, ceased to beat him.

"Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains"; for as he naturally concluded that St. Paul must have committed some crime, to make the Jews treat him in this way, his first care was to secure him, that he might not run away, and thus escape the punishment he deserved. We may be quite sure that the Apostle would have made no attempt to escape; but that the Romans could not know. When Claudius Lysias had secured his prisoner, he "demanded who he was, and what he had done." To this question, no reasonable answer could be given; for as St. Paul had not committed any crime, no intelligible accusation could be brought against him: and therefore, "some cried one thing, some another, among the mult.i.tude": so that Claudius Lysias could make out nothing for certain; "and when he could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded him to be carried into the castle." The Jews, unwilling to lose their victim, pressed after the soldiers who were leading him away, eager to kill him. "And when he came upon the stairs," leading up into the castle, "so it was, that he was borne," or carried, by "the soldiers for the violence of the people. For the mult.i.tude followed after, crying, Away with him." On the top of the stairs, the Apostle was out of reach of his furious enemies; "and as Paul was to be led into the castle, he said unto the chief captain, May I speak unto thee?" These words were spoken in Greek, to the astonishment of Claudius Lysias, who imagined that his prisoner must be a certain Egyptian, or rather a Jew who had come from Egypt to Jerusalem, about two years before this time. Giving out that he was a great prophet sent by G.o.d, this man persuaded great numbers of people to go with him to the Mount of Olives, promising, that they should see the walls of the city fall down at his command: but he intended, with the help of these people, to force his way into the city, and destroy the Roman guards. This attempt was, however, prevented by Felix, the governor of Judaea: many of these foolish people were killed, and the leader himself fled into the wilderness, accompanied by a great number of men, that "were murderers," or had committed other crimes which made them liable to punishment. Josephus the historian tells us, that these murderers were persons who, under pretence of religion, came up to Jerusalem with daggers or short swords, concealed under their cloaks, ready to do any act of violence. They were employed by Felix to murder Jonathan the High Priest; and for this crime they of course received no punishment. They afterwards made it a practice, to come up to Jerusalem for all the feasts; and then, either by hiring themselves out as a.s.sa.s.sins to those who wished to get rid of an enemy, or by killing those against whom they had any grudge, they committed numerous murders, even in the temple itself. The number of these murderers became very considerable, and the Roman Government wished to destroy them.

Chapter XXIII.--ST. PAUL BROUGHT BEFORE THE SANHEDRIM.

When St. Paul said in Greek to the Chief captain, "May I speak unto thee?" he said, in answer, "Canst thou speak Greek? Art not thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers? But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people." Claudius Lysias readily granted this request. "And when he had given him licence, Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand unto the people"; signifying that he had something to say, if they would only be quiet and listen to him. The people were now willing to hear him. "And when there was made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying, Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you." It would seem that many of those who had been crying out against St. Paul, had no idea that he was himself a Jew, and able to speak to them in their own beloved language; for "when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence." St. Paul then told the people that he himself was born a Jew, and had been brought up in Jerusalem by their famous teacher Gamaliel, who had taught him the very strictest observance of the Law of Moses; and that he himself had been so zealous for the Law, that he had at one time cruelly persecuted the Christians, as the High Priest and all the elders of the Jews could bear witness. Then he went on to give an account of all that had happened to him on his way to Damascus, and how he had in consequence become himself a believer in Jesus Christ. He also told the people, that when he was afterwards in Jerusalem, the Lord had appeared to him in a vision, and given him a positive command to go and preach to the Gentiles, saying, "Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles." Hitherto, the a.s.sembled mult.i.tude had listened quietly to what the Apostle said, "they gave him audience unto this word"; but when they heard him plainly declare, that it was the will of G.o.d that the Gentiles should share His favour, which they thought belonged only to themselves, they were filled with rage, and would hear no more: they "lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live": and they cast off their upper garments, that they might be ready to stone him, and threw dust up into the air, to show their hatred and contempt.

The Arabs in these days have a custom like this; for when any person, who is speaking in public, says anything they disapprove of, they throw dust into the air, to show that they have no respect for the speaker and do not believe what he is saying. St. Paul was now in great danger of being torn in pieces, if the people, who stood raging and shouting round the stairs on which he stood, could catch hold of him. Claudius Lysias saw that the only hope of stopping the uproar, was to take St. Paul out of sight of the enraged mult.i.tude. "And as they cried out, and cast off their clothes, and threw dust into the air, the chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle."

But he was as far as ever from knowing what the Jews accused St. Paul of: he did not understand Hebrew, and therefore he had no idea of what had been said; but he naturally thought, that it must be something very wrong to put the people into such a rage. Seeing therefore, that there was no other chance of learning the truth, he now determined to have St. Paul beaten, according to the custom of the Romans, who treated prisoners in this way, in order to make them confess what crimes they had committed. Claudius Lysias therefore, after having had the Apostle brought into the castle, "bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him.

And as they bound him with thongs" to a pillar, as was usual in such cases, "Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?" The privileges of a Roman, that is, of a Roman citizen, have been explained. The centurion, who commanded the party of soldiers about to scourge the prisoner, was fully aware of the danger of so treating one, who had in any way obtained the freedom of Rome; and therefore, when he heard such words spoken by his prisoner, he at once "went, and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest; for this man is a Roman." Such a startling piece of intelligence, at once brought Claudius to the spot where the prisoner stood bound with thongs to a pillar, with the soldiers round ready to scourge him. "Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? He said, Yea. And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, But I was free born. Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him" by this torture: and not only did the chief captain give up all idea of scourging St. Paul, but he "also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him."

Even binding a Roman citizen was unlawful, and for doing this Claudius Lysias was liable to be punished. Nero, who had become Emperor of Rome about four years before this time, on the death of Claudius, A.D. 54, was a harsh and cruel tyrant; and though he would not have cared whether St. Paul was tortured or not, he would have been very angry if any of the laws concerning the Roman privileges had been broken; and therefore Claudius Lysias had good reason to fear, that if St. Paul complained of the treatment which he, a free-born citizen of Rome, had received, the Emperor would cause him to be punished. If he had known more of the precepts taught by Jesus, he would have felt sure that St.

Paul would have no wish to revenge himself in such a manner. The Apostle made use of his rights as a Roman citizen to save himself from a cruel punishment; because, if he had been scourged, it might have led men to think that he must have been guilty of some crime to deserve such a punishment; and it was necessary that the teachers of the holy Word of G.o.d should appear blameless before all men.

The chief captain now took other measures for finding out what St.

Paul was accused of; and he summoned the Sanhedrim to meet, that they might in a lawful manner examine and judge the prisoner, and so ascertain whether there was any reason for the rage of the people against him. We read, "On the morrow, because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them. And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before G.o.d until this day."

Now that the Apostle was called upon to defend himself, he rightly wished all men to understand, that he was no criminal deserving of anger or punishment; but a man who had always tried to do what he believed to be his duty in the sight of G.o.d: most truly could he say that he had done this; for even when he persecuted the followers of Jesus, it was under the mistaken idea that it was his duty to do so.

But the Jews were angry at his saying this, "and the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth.

Then said Paul unto him, G.o.d shall smite thee, thou whited wall: for sittest thou to judge me after the law, and commandest me to be smitten contrary to the law? And they that stood by said, Revilest thou G.o.d's high priest? Then said Paul, I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest: for it is written, Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people."

The Apostle meant, that if he had known, or looked upon Ananias as the High Priest, he would not have rebuked him in such words; because a ruler of the people must be treated with respect, on account of his office: but Ananias deserved the rebuke, for the Law commanded all who ruled, or judged others, to do no unrighteousness or injustice themselves; and Ananias broke the Law, and was guilty of very great injustice in ordering St. Paul to be smitten in this way, before he had been proved to be guilty of any crime. We must mention here that, in fact, Ananias was _not_ the High Priest at this time. He had been High Priest at the time of the famine, when Barnabas and Saul took help to the poor brethren at Jerusalem; but after that, there had been some disturbance between the Jews and Samaritans, and the Romans, thinking Ananias to blame, deprived him of his sacred office, and sent him as a prisoner to Rome: and though he was afterwards allowed to return to Jerusalem, he was not restored to the office of High Priest, to which another man, named Jonathan, had been appointed. This Jonathan had been killed by the "murderers" hired by Felix the Roman governor, and no other High Priest had as yet been appointed; therefore there was, in fact, _no_ High Priest to be president, or head, of the Sanhedrim. Under these circ.u.mstances, Ananias set himself up as chief of the Council, and behaved in the unjust manner related.

St. Paul had only been a very few days in Jerusalem, and did not perhaps know that Ananias had taken the office of High Priest upon himself; or if he did know it, what he said would be a just rebuke to him for having done so.

One other matter requires a few words, that is, the "whited wall," to which St. Paul compared Ananias. We shall remember that our Saviour said, "Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but are within full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so ye also appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." In the same manner St. Paul applied the comparison of the "whited wall" of a sepulchre to Ananias, who pretended to judge and rebuke another, whilst his own heart was full of all evil pa.s.sions and iniquity.

Let us remember, that each such pa.s.sage of Scripture has a lesson for us: all who only think of what men will say, and try to _appear_ good in the eyes of their fellow creatures, without trying to love and serve G.o.d with all their heart, and to do His will whatever men may think of them, are no more pleasing in the eyes of our Lord, than were the Pharisees, whom Jesus compared to "whited sepulchres."

Now we must return to the Council of the Sanhedrim, and hear what the Apostle said in his defence. St. Luke says, "But when Paul perceived that the one part (of his hearers) were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question"--meaning that he was persecuted and called to account, because he had taught that the dead would rise again. "And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees: and the mult.i.tude was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess both. And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the Pharisees' part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man: but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against G.o.d." These scribes spake well: but unhappily they did not speak in sincerity, but only out of contradiction and spite to the Sadducees, whom they hated. They were quite as much opposed to St. Paul's preaching to the Gentiles, as any other cla.s.s of persons could be; and therefore it was hypocrisy to pretend to believe that an angel had bid him do so. St Paul, moreover, had said nothing of any angel speaking to him; but had plainly declared that Jesus Christ had spoken to him: and this of course the Pharisees could not allow, because they would not acknowledge Jesus Christ to be the Messiah. They were, in fact, fighting against G.o.d--the very thing which they pretended to be afraid of doing.

The Sadducees were very angry, and the whole Council became a scene of the greatest confusion and violence; so that Claudius Lysias feared for his prisoner's life; and being answerable for his safety, he sent his soldiers to bring him back into the castle, where he would be out of danger.

Chapter XXIV.--ST. PAUL SENT TO CaeSAREA.

We read in the Book of Acts, "And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle."

In the midst of the troubles and dangers with which he was now surrounded, the faithful servant of G.o.d was not left without comfort and encouragement; for we read, that "the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.

And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul."

These men belonged to a party amongst the Jews, who were particularly strict in the observance of all the forms and ceremonies of the Law; and for their _zeal_ or eagerness in this matter, they were called Zealots. These Zealots, quite overlooking the Moral Law, which commanded "Thou shalt not kill," taught, that it was right to kill any man who did not observe the whole of the Ceremonial Law: they therefore made a practice of murdering, whenever they had an opportunity, all whom they looked upon as enemies of the Law, without waiting for any trial to decide whether or not they deserved punishment.

The Chief Priest and elders, instead of trying to prevent such wickedness, too often approved of the practices of the Zealots; as by their means they got rid of many whom they feared and hated, and who certainly could not justly have been found guilty of any crime, for which they could have been put to death. These Jewish Zealots had bound themselves by a curse to kill St. Paul; that is, they expressed a wish that G.o.d would bring evil upon them, if they did not kill St.

Paul, before they ate or drank anything. Any such oaths are very sinful at all times, even if the act we bind ourselves to do is a good and righteous one, because it may not please G.o.d that we should do it: man proposes, but G.o.d disposes; and we must be content with striving to do what is right and useful, and leave the issue in His hands.

The Zealots, though they wickedly bound themselves by such an oath, knew that there was no risk in any case of their being starved to death, because any of their Rabbis could absolve, or set them free from such oaths, whenever they did not find it convenient to keep them.

There were more than forty of the Zealots which made this conspiracy against St. Paul; and they, knowing that the Chief Priests and elders would be only too glad to have the Apostle silenced in any way, went to them to get their help in the execution of this wicked plot. They told the Priests and elders how they had bound themselves by a curse to kill St. Paul: and then said, "Now therefore ye with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you to-morrow, as though ye would inquire something more perfectly concerning him; and we, or ever he come near, are ready to kill him."

This was a plan very likely to succeed: Claudius Lysias would have thought it very natural that the Sanhedrim should wish to examine St.

Paul quietly, which could not be done in the tumult and excitement of the day before. He would, therefore, have sent his prisoner down with a small guard of soldiers, sufficient to prevent his escaping: these, the Zealots who would be lying in wait, could easily overpower by their greater number, and thus they would have no difficulty in murdering the Apostle. It is sad to think that priests and rulers, whose duty it was to teach the people what was right, and to see that every man was treated justly, should have agreed thus to entrap and slay a man who had been guilty of no crime: but so it was, for they consented to do their part in the proposed scheme.

The enemies of St. Paul must now have thought his destruction certain: but they forgot that if the Lord was on the Apostle's side, all their plots would come to nothing. And so it proved: for the Lord, Who had work for His faithful servant to do, caused this plot to become in some way known to a young man, the son of St. Paul's sister. We know nothing of this young man; whether he was still a Jew, or had, as is more probable, become a Christian: all we are told is, "And when Paul's sister's son heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle, and told Paul."

We have now another example as to the duty of using all human means, whilst humbly depending upon the blessing of G.o.d, without which all our efforts are unavailing. St. Paul had the promise of G.o.d, that he should live to preach the Gospel in Rome; therefore he was well a.s.sured that the Zealots could not harm him. He also knew that the Almighty could work a miracle for his deliverance; but he knew that to depend upon such a display of Divine power, would be tempting G.o.d, not trusting in Him. St. Paul felt, that the Lord, Who most generally brings about events through human actions, had now given him the means of saving his own life; and that it was his duty to make use of them, in order to defeat the wicked plot contrived by the Zealots and the Council.

When St. Paul had heard from his sister's son the plot laid for his destruction, he "called one of the centurions unto him, and said, Bring this young man unto the chief captain: for he hath a certain thing to tell him. So" the centurion "took him, and brought him to the chief captain, and said, Paul the prisoner called me unto him, and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee, who hath something to say unto thee. Then the chief captain took him by the hand, and went with him aside privately, and asked him, What is that thou hast to tell me?" Then the young man told him all that was proposed, and begged him not to yield to the request of the Council. Having heard what he had to say, "the chief captain then let the young man depart, and charged him, See thou tell no man that thou hast shewed these things to me."

Claudius Lysias immediately took measures to save St. Paul, without giving any cause or pretence for a disturbance, by refusing what would appear to be a reasonable request from the Sanhedrim: and he determined at once to send his prisoner out of the city, so that when asked to produce him before the Council, he could truly say, that it was no longer in his power to do so. We read that "he called unto him two centurions, saying, Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea, and hors.e.m.e.n three-score and ten, and spearmen two hundred, at the third hour of the night; and provide them beasts, that they may set Paul on, and bring him safe unto Felix the governor," whose residence was at Caesarea. At the same time Claudius Lysias wrote a letter to be given to Felix, by those who conducted St. Paul to Caesarea. "And he wrote a letter after this manner: Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor Felix sendeth greeting. This man was taken of the Jews, and should have been killed of them: then came I with an army, and rescued him, having understood that he was a Roman.

And when I would have known the cause wherefore they accused him, I brought him forth into their council: whom I perceived to be accused of questions of their law, but to have nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or of bonds. And when it was told me how that the Jews laid wait for the man, I sent straightway to thee, and gave commandment to his accusers also to say before thee what they had against him. Farewell."

Now this letter was not quite a truthful account of what had happened: Claudius Lysias told the story most favourably for himself, by making it appear that he rescued St. Paul because he was a Roman citizen; whereas he did not know that fact, till he was on the point of scourging the prisoner--a circ.u.mstance of which he makes no mention. In relating anything, either by word of mouth or by letter, we should be very careful to state exactly what happened, whether it is favourable to ourselves or not. Saying that he had given commandment to the accusers to go down to Caesarea with their complaints, was different; because by the time the letter reached Felix, the command would be given. Of course he could say nothing to the Jews that evening, as it was needful to send the Apostle away secretly; but we may be sure that the next day, when the Council demanded that St. Paul should be brought before them for further examination, this advice was given to them. The third hour of the night was about nine o'clock in the evening, and "then the soldiers, as it was commanded them, took Paul, and brought him by night to Antipatris," a city about thirty-eight miles from Jerusalem, and twenty-seven from Caesarea. It had been rebuilt, like many other cities, by Herod the Great, who called it Antipatris, after his father Antipater.

Here St. Paul was quite out of reach of the Zealots who had banded to kill him, and so large a guard was therefore quite unnecessary: so that "on the morrow" the soldiers "left the hors.e.m.e.n to go with him, and returned to the castle" of Antonia. The hors.e.m.e.n went on, "who, when they came to Caesarea, and delivered the epistle to the governor, presented Paul also before him. And when the governor had read the letter, he asked of what province" the prisoner was. And when he understood that he was of Cilicia, "I will hear thee, said he, when thine accusers are also come. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's judgment hall." Herod's judgment hall, in which Felix commanded the Apostle to be kept till his accusers should come down, was a large building erected by Herod the Great as a palace for himself: part of it was afterwards made into a residence for the Roman governor of Judaea; and part of it was used as a prison for prisoners, not charged with any great or serious crime. Here, then, St. Paul was kept for five days. "And after five days Ananias the high priest descended," or went down to Caesarea, "with the elders, and with a certain orator named Tertullus, who informed the governor against Paul."

An orator was a person who was able to make a good speech upon any subject set before him. Many men made a business of this; that is, a man who was able to speak well, would speak for others, who were not able to do so, on condition of being paid for his services. Thus, if any man were accused of a crime, he would get one of these public orators to speak for him at the time of trial, and try to persuade the Judge that he was innocent, whether he really were so or not. The same sort of thing is done amongst us, by barristers--men who have made it their business to study the laws of their country, in order to advise and help others who are ignorant in such matters. The Jewish priests and rulers were so very anxious that Felix should believe St. Paul to be in the wrong, and condemn him accordingly, that they had engaged an orator named Tertullus, to come and speak for them, and make the best of their case; so as to persuade Felix to condemn St. Paul, and thus gratify their malice.

Chapter XXV.--ST. PAUL ACCUSED BEFORE FELIX.

Tertullus "informed the governor against Paul,"--that is, he came to Caesarea for the express purpose of informing the governor of the many and serious accusations, which the Jews brought against the prisoner.

The accusers being now come, Felix sat to judge the matter, and hear what each party had to say. "And when he was called forth, Tertullus,"

in the name of the Jewish priests and rulers, "began to accuse" Paul, "saying, Seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness, and that very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by thy providence, we accept it always, and in all places, most n.o.ble Felix, with all thankfulness.

Notwithstanding, that I be not further tedious unto thee, I pray thee that thou wouldest hear us of thy clemency a few words."