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Saul the Student
Acts 9:15 KJV 15 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a
chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings,
and the children of Israel: 16 For I will shew him how great things he
must suffer for my name's sake.
Acts 9:20-25 KJV 20 And straightway he preached Christ in the
synagogues, that he is the Son of God. 21 But all that heard him were
amazed, and said; Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this
name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent, that he might bring
them bound unto the chief priests? 22 But Saul increased the more in
strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that
this is very Christ. 23 And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews
took counsel to kill him: 24 But their laying await was known of Saul.
And they watched the gates day and night to kill him. 25 Then the disciples
took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket.
Introduction
Saul did not know just exactly what God wanted him to do after his conversion. The zeal that he had while a practicing Pharisee carried over to his newfound life in Jesus. Saul the Converted was just as anxious to get to work for the Lord as he had been while being Saul the Persecutor. Because of his knowledge of the Scriptures (what we now call the Old Testament), he finally really understood the prophecies concerning Jesus. His reasoning for his now understanding was because he had met Jesus face to face on his way to Damascus. He now understood that Jesus was the Son of God without question. But he was not yet ready for the work that God had laid out for him.
Arabia
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Galatians 1:11-17 KJV 11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel
which was preached of me is not after man. 12 For I neither received it of
man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For
ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how
that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: 14
And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own
nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. 15
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and
called me by his grace, 16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach
him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and
blood: 17 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles
before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.
It appears from his own testimony that he was not in Damascus for a long time until he went to Arabia. We are not told anything about his sojourn in Arabia with the exception that he went there before he went anywhere else.
We can only speculate what happened in the three years he was there. My conclusion is that he had in that time an education of a lifetime in the short space of those three years. He had all the knowledge of the Scriptures that could be had, but how to understand them from the aspect of Jesus as the Son of God and Messiah would something different. He had to come to the understanding that the Scriptures spoke of Jesus, Whom he met on his way to Damascus. He had to learn from the Lord Himself. His testimony to the Galatians reveals that in order for him to preach to the Gentiles, he had to learn how to preach the Scriptures from the Lord’s viewpoint rather than a Rabbi’s viewpoint. That is why he stated that he conferred not with flesh and blood.
If we only looked at the Acts account in chapter nine, we could get the impression that Saul began to preach in Damascus right after he was saved and baptized. It is possible that he did some preaching right after he was saved, however, according to his own testimony to the Galatians, he says he 40
went into Arabia before he did anything else. Upon his return from Arabia, he began to preach in Damascus.
He informs the Galatians that what he had preached to them did not come from men. Saul’s vast knowledge was expanded by the revelations that were made known to him apparently while in Arabia.
There is an explanation as to why it is not recorded in Acts concerning Saul going to Arabia. Luke is the inspired writer of the book of Acts. At this point of Saul’s ministry, he was not present with Saul. Therefore, he would not have been witness to the early events of Saul’s service to the Lord. But because of Saul’s own testimony we can know the timeline that is not present in the book of Acts.
Damascus Preaching
Upon his return to Damascus, Saul began to preach in earnest. He went to the synagogues in Damascus and the surrounding area. Evidently, according to Acts 9:20, there were more than just one synagogue in the city. Since he was familiar with the synagogues and their proceedings, he went to them first in his preaching.
It is possible that one of the synagogues was the one at Dura Europos located today in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Damascus. There is evidence that this synagogue was probably in existence during Saul’s lifetime. This may have been one of the synagogues in which he preached.
The Jobar Synagogue, also known at the Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue, was situated in the village of Jobar which is now encompassed by the metropolitan area of the City of Damascus. There is some debate concerning the date of origin of this synagogue but there seems to be evidence that this synagogue began in the early 700’s BC. Regardless, it stands to reason that this was also one of the synagogues where Saul probably preached. It was completely destroyed in the bombing in 2014, although by some accounts that was not true that it survived instead, though damaged.
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There may have been others in the area but today there seems to be no record of any. These two would have probably served the entire Jewish population in the Damascus area.
According to the Jewish Encyclopedia website1, Saul’s preaching took place around 49 CE. However, several others say that his conversion was around 36 AD (CE). This is quite a gap between these two times. I would suspect that the 36 CE date would be closer to reality than the 49 CE date.
Therefore, if we add the three years that is believed to be the time that he spent in Arabia, his return to Damascus would be around 39 CE. Regardless of the time element, his return eventually caused quite a stir. His preaching caused many of the Jews to be saved and added to the number of disciples in the city of Damascus. This caused such an uproar that the Jewish ethnarch (the local Jewish leader), attempted to arrest Saul. Saul’s friends that he had made in the church in Damascus, had to save his life by lowering him in a basket out of a window built in the wall of the city. According to the historian Josephus, many of the Jews were murdered by the pagan inhabitants in the outbreak of a “great war of liberation.”2
1 www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4861-damascus
2 Josephus, "B. J." ii. 20, § 2; vii. 8, § 7
Let us take a look at the content of Saul’s messages to the Jews in the synagogues. Verse 20 states, And straightway he preached Christ in the
synagogues, that he is the Son of God. This would become his basic message wherever he preached. This was his:
1. Synagogue message, Acts 9:20-22,
2. Philippian jail message, Acts 16:30, 31,
3. Mars Hill message, Acts 17:1-34,
4. Roman message, Romans 1:14-16,
5. King Agrippa message, Acts 26:1-32, and
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6. Benediction message to Timothy, II Timothy 4:1-16.
Acts 9:21 KJV 21 But all that heard him were amazed, and said; Is not
this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and
came hither for that intent, that he might bring them bound unto the chief
priests?
Those who listened to him could hardly believe that it was the same man who had come from Jerusalem with warrants to take any and all of the disciples back to Jerusalem.
Acts 9:22 KJV 22 But Saul increased the more in strength, and
confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very
Christ.
There is no doubt that the Holy Spirit greatly empowered him with more dynamic discernment, strength, faith, knowledge, and unction of the Spirit.
Of course, this would seemly become commonplace in his ministry to come.
He so completely flabbergasted the Jews that they were unanswerably awed and filled with uncertainty. He refuted all their objections against Jesus Christ even to the point of totally silencing them. Because of his deep knowledge of the Scriptures, he “simply showed the harmony between the prophecies, promises, and predictions of the Old Testament regarding the Messiah who was to come, then the actual physical evidence that Jesus had specifically and definitively fulfilled them as the Savior.”3
3 Albert Garner, Power BibleCD 5.7, his comments on Acts 9:22
Acts 9:23-25 KJV 23 And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews
took counsel to kill him: 24 But their laying await was known of Saul.
And they watched the gates day and night to kill him. 25 Then the disciples
took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket.
It did not take long for the Jewish leadership to become alarmed by the number of people that were saved and added to the number of disciples in 43
the church there. To that end there arose a plot to take Saul and kill him.
All the gates to the city were guarded with men lying in wait to take him.
This knowledge was somehow given to Saul and the disciples made plans for him to escape. This would bring an end to his ministry in Damascus.
2 Corinthians 11:32-33 KJV 32 In Damascus the governor under Aretas
the king kept the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desirous to
apprehend me: 33 And through a window in a basket was I let down by
the wall, and escaped his hands.
Once again, the Jews have persuaded a non-Jewish ruler to accommodate their wishes.
According to his testimony to the Galatians, Saul spent three years preaching in Damascus before he was forced to escape Aretas the king. He simply states that from Damascus he went to Jerusalem to see Peter, and according to Galatians 1:18, spent fifteen days with him. At that present time, he saw no others with the exception of James who is believed to have been the Pastor at the church in Jerusalem.
The year now seems to be 41 CE.
It is apparent that after those fifteen days with Peter, Saul desired to join the church at Jerusalem, but they were very skeptical concerning his conversion.
Acts 9:26-28 KJV 26 And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed
to join himself to the disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and
believed not that he was a disciple. 27 But Barnabas took him, and
brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the
Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached
boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus. 28 And he was with them
coming in and going out at Jerusalem.
It took the intervention of Barnabas on Saul’s behalf for the church body to accept him. Once they accepted him, he began an aggressive ministry there in Jerusalem. He got into a hot debate with some Grecians to the point that 44
they wanted to kill him. The brethren at the church in Jerusalem, when they knew that the Grecians wanted to kill him, took him to Caesarea, and there sent him to Tarsus.
We do not know just how long Saul was in Jerusalem. It is believed by many that he spent the next seven years in Tarsus. Still others say it was four to five years. Regardless of how many years he spent in his hometown, he was not idle. With Tarsus as his center point, the Gospel was now centered in the surrounding regions of Syria and Cilicia (Galatians 1:21).
According to Acts 15:23, 41, there were several churches in Syria and Cilicia, besides the one in Antioch. Probably some of those were because of Saul’s efforts in the region.
We cannot say that Saul was free from persecution during his time in the area. We do know from his personal testimony recorded in II Corinthians 11:24-26 that he suffered from many persecutions that are not recorded in the book of Acts. Could some of them have occurred during his time in the region? Yes, it is quite possible.
There are some that believe that it was during this time that Saul had the vision of Heaven. To be absolutely dogmatic about that could lead to error.
In II Corinthians 12:1-4 he writes about the vision which he claims at the time of the writing that it was fourteen years past. I will only give this in reference to the event, but we cannot say for sure when it was.
Conclusion
Saul is well on his way to becoming Paul. He is now ready for the next phase of his life of service to our Lord.
In the next part, we will consider his ministry at Antioch in Syria.
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