The Second Missionary Journey
The Finishing of Journey Number Two
Acts 18:12-22 KJV 12 And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the
Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him
to the judgment seat, 13 Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship
God contrary to the law. 14 And when Paul was now about to open his
mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked
lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you: 15 But if
it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I
will be no judge of such matters. 16 And he drave them from the judgment
seat. 17 Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the
synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for
none of those things. 18 And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while,
and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and
with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he
had a vow. 19 And he came to Ephesus, and left them there: but he himself
entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews. 20 When they
desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not; 21 But bade
them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in
Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed
from Ephesus. 22 And when he had landed at Caesarea, and gone up, and
saluted the church, he went down to Antioch.
Introduction
It took a while, but the Jewish fanatics finally rose up to give Paul trouble.
It was inevitable that this would happen. They seem to leave him alone until people start being saved and turn away from Judaism. Then they do whatever they can to stop him. Such as it was in Corinth.
The Bema Seat
147
To the best of my knowledge, this is the first reference to the “Bema Seat.”
Paul would refer to it in his letter(s) to the Church at Corinth later, but this came first. Paul would use the “Bema Seat” as a type of the Judgement Seat of Christ, where all the saved are judged. “Bema” is the transliterated Greek word for “judgement seat” in the English language. It was usually one that could be moved from one place to another to be used in prearranged public places, for public judgement.1
A man by the name of Gallio was the Deputy Proconsul of Achaia or Greece. He had a brother named Seneca what call “the moralist.” The contemporaries of Gallio called him “agreeable Gallio.” It should be noted that both Gallio and his brother Seneca were put to death by Nero.2
Having brought Paul to Gallio’s judgement seat, the Jews began to accuse Paul of urging people to worship God. They then accuse Paul of doing it against the law. Before Paul could even begin to give a defense, Gallio jumped into the mix by stating that it was the Jews’ law, not Roman civil law which Gallio was bound to keep. He refused to hear the charges against Paul because he had done nothing to violate any Jewish law. Gallio made it very clear that since there was no Roman law that had been broken, he was not going to meddle in the affairs of the Jews. He affirmed that he had no jurisdiction in the matter. With that, he drove them from the judgement seat because they brought no valid complaint to him.
After this, the Greeks took Sosthenes who had become the chief ruler of the synagogue after the exit of Crispus who had been the previous ruler of the synagogue. Since Sosthenes was the leader of the Jews who had illegally brought charges against Paul, he would be the one to answer because of the charges. The Greeks took Sosthenes before the judgement seat and instead of charging him with anything, they physically beat him right in front of Gallio. Gallio did nothing because he again felt that it was not in his jurisdiction.
Paul’s Departure
148
After the incident with the Jews, Paul remained in Corinth for a while more, making it close to two years for his stay there. He took leave of the Church at Corinth. Along with Priscilla and Aquila, he set forth to go to Syria, specifically for Ephesus. It seems that they made a short stop in the small seaport town of Cenchrea, located some nine miles east of Corinth.
Apparently there was a church located in this seaport town, but we have no information as to when it was established. Phoebe, as mentioned in Romans 16:1, lived in this town. Paul states in this verse that she was a servant of the church there in Cenchrea.
It was here that Paul made a vow, about which we know nothing. It is not revealed in the Scriptures what the vow was. We should note that Paul would adhere to Jewish custom or tradition as long as it did not violate or compromise scriptural principles. It seems that Paul had fulfilled a vow, thus the shaved head.
149
THE CHIEF
Cenchreae and surrounding area3
Paul and company sailed to Ephesus. At Ephesus he left Aquila and Priscilla behind to work with the church there. Paul, himself, went on to Antioch of Syria, his home church, to give a report to them concerning the Second Missionary Journey. The Ephesians desired Paul to stay longer with them, but he refused saying that he had to make it to Jerusalem. We do not know for sure, but some scholars believe that the feast he wanted to keep was the Annual Pentecost that was observed fifty days after the annual Passover.
Paul, Timothy, Silas, and probably Titus, continued on to Caesarea. This was where Cornelius and his household resided along with Philip and his daughters. They greeted the church there and continued on to Antioch, Syria.
150
THE CHIEF
Caesarea and surrounding area4
Conclusion
Paul, after a very brief time in Caesarea, went on his way to Antioch, Syria, to give a report of the Second Missionary Journey. This was meant that the Second Missionary Journey was finished.
In the next part we will see Paul’s activities before his third journey.
1 Albert Garner, Power Bible CD 5.7, his comments on Acts 18:12
2 IBID
3 https://bibleatlas.org/cenchreae.htm
4 https://bibleatlas.org/caesarea.htm
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