This
Bible Study is written by Roger Christopherson, and it's
transcription/ location The Acts of the Apostles Chapter 24 "Paul and Felix."
We read in the last chapter that Paul made the trip from Jerusalem to Caesarea over night, now lets see how long it takes Ananias and his Kenite tribe to get to Caesarea. Acts 24:1 "And after five days Ananias the high priest descended with the elders, and with a certain orator named Tertullus, who informed the governor against Paul." It took them five days to make the trip, and with them came one of the best orators of the day that money could buy. Tertullus is the lawyer that would stand up for Ananias and the temple crowd. Acts 24:2 "And when he was called forth, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, "Seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness, and that very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by thy providence:" If you want to know how Satan works, then pay attention here. Tertullus is using the same method that Satan and the Kenites use to get their way. Satan always flatters you to get your attention, with word boosting up your greatness, appearance, deeds and wisdom. Of course he expects your response to be, well Satan you have good taste. You see it is a trick to get you to put your guard down. Tertullus is using Satan and the Kenites method of operation here on the judge Felix before he presents any facts. When you trace the thumb print of the Kenite, there is no doubt that Tertullus was one. This is not attacking all lawyers, but when you see one, he will use this method. Tertullus is telling Felix, because you are a great governor we enjoy great peace, and because you are in charge, great wonderful deeds are done in Judaea. Just because you are governor. I hope you can see how Felix is being puffed up. Acts 24:3 "We accept it always, and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness." "Most noble Felix", more puff of the ego as Tertullus tells Felix he is the most noble governor that ever existed. When you hear Satan's own coming off with something like this, get ready for what is coming. Hide the cash box, and take your belt up a notch, and get set for what is following. Acts 24:4 "Notwithstanding, that I be not further tedious unto thee, I pray thee that thou wouldest hear us of thy clemency a few words." "Nevertheless" is the same as "but". That I don't bore you any more, I am going to be very brief. Tertullus is telling Felix, because of your intelligence, I won't bore you and lets railroad this guy. That is what he is leading up to. Acts 24:5 "For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes." So we see the accusations coming forth. The Kenites are accusing Paul of not only causing trouble, but being the ringleader of causing others all over the world to overthrow the powers in charge. Acts 24:6 "Who also hath hone about to profane the temple: whom we took, and would have judged according to our law." Do you think Felix gives one hoot whether Paul profaned the temple or not? Of course not. That is a religious matter, and he could have cared less. Notice another thing here, Did Paul tell any of Ananias' bunch that he was a Roman citizen? He did not. Paul only told the Romans that he was a Roman citizen, and in the Acts 23:34 Paul confirmed his citizenship of Cilicia, a Roman Province to Felix. Ananias still thinks that he has one of his own in court, and that Paul has no authority nor power to act as a Roman citizen. This makes a big difference because Ananias thinks Paul is being tried basically for violations of the accuser, but the Roman governor is treating Paul as a Roman citizen. What this lawyer is saying is just not true in the eyes of the governor, and Felix will not judge Paul as a Nazarite, but as a Roman citizen, and the only thing that matters to Rome are the laws of Rome. Remember it is important to know who you are and which camp you are in, especially when divided forces come on you, such as Antichrist and his forces in this final generation. Use your wisdom of God's Word and be alert. Acts 24:7 "But the chief captain Lysias came upon us, and with great violence took him away out of our hands," Just as these Kenites about had Paul killed, Lysias came and took him from our hands and saved him. "With great violence" is a Kenite expression, for anything that goes against their traditions is called great violence. Acts 24:8 "Commanding his accusers to come unto thee: by examining of whom thyself mayest take knowledge of all these things, whereof we accuse him." Then Tertullus tells Felix, you are intelligent, take knowledge in all these things we are accusing Paul. The thing I find amusing here, is this clown Tertullus still doesn't know he is speaking against a Roman citizen, and to this point not one thing he has said has broken any Roman law. By this time old Felix must be scratching his head and wondering just how much of a fool Tertullus thinks he is. What it is saying in the Greek, is as wise as you are, you could do nothing but find Paul guilty of our charges. Acts 24:9 "And the Jews also assented, saying that these things were so.." Can't you just see this fat lawyer Tertullus turning to Ananias, and the others with them and all their heads bobbing in agreement to the charges just spoken. Again the term "Jews" simply means they are living in Judaea, and has nothing to do with their blood line, and being of the tribe of Judah. In the Greek it is "ioudaios", # 2453 in Strong's Greek dictionary, "resident of the country Judaea". We know that because they were of the religious circle, they were Kenite, because the Kenites had vertually taken over the religious duties of the scribes and the Levitical priests by the time Ezra and Nehemiah brought their groups out of Bablyon, and back to Jerusalem. This is well recorded in the Book of Ester and Nehemiah. I Chronicles 2:55; "And the families of the scribes which dwelt at Jabez [Jerusalem]; the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and Sucathites. These are the Kenites that came of Hemath, the father of the house of Rechab." The Kenites controlled the records keeping and the law five hundred years before Jesus Christ was born, as well as the duties of the Levitical priests from top to bottom. Notice that these Kenites are from the house of Rechab, not of the house of Jacob, they are Satan's kinds through the child that came from the union between Eve and Satan [the deceiver], in his role as the "old serpent". That child's name is Cain, and the Kenites are the offspring of Satan through Cain. Jesus addressed these religious Kenite leaders directly in John 8:44. John 8:44 "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." Friend, The devil is Satan, and his son is the first murderer, who is Cain. We know this from Genesis 4:8 "And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him." Are you starting to catch on that this bunch of accusers of Paul, including Ananias is not of God, nor are they of Jacob. They don't care to present the truth, because they are of their fathers both Satan, and his son Cain. It is important that you understand who the Kenites are, for it is tied to the "parable of the fig tree" that Jesus Christ warned us to learn, so that we not be deceived. We will see now that Paul has the hammer over them, because he is a Roman citizen, but it is God that will protect Paul. Paul is a son chosen by the living God, sent on a mission for Christ, and under the protection of the Holy Spirit of God. God laid out the life of Paul far before this date, and it is no accident that Paul's father was a Roman. Acts 24:10 "Then Paul, after that the governor had beckoned unto him to speak, answered, "Forasmuch as I know that thou hast been of many years a judge unto this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself:" I'm sure old Tertullus sat down, and expected Paul to fall all over himself, after the flowering speech that he just gave. Though Paul's answer in his defence is history, and a type we should be aware of , it is also prophetic in a futuristic sense. We can see what will happen in the end times as far as witnessing before the government. What we are seeing here is religions pleading their cases before a governmental official. As the one world, "new world order" comes into full power, with its ten agencies of power, the religious branch of that order, the world council of churches will be the overseer. So we see that just as Paul started at the bottom of the judicial branch in Jerusalem, and then to Caesarea, and we will see that God will take him all the way to the top in Rome. It is God that moves Paul along his course to Rome. Rome is important here, in that Rome is the capital of the world. Caesar was the known world leader, and that is where his offices were. We know also that prophetically Jerusalem in the end generation will be the capital of the world, of the new world order, and this is because that is where the Antichrist, or "instead of Christ" will reign from. Paul warned us of this in II Thessalonians 2:3, 4; "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition," [3] The "son of perdition" is Satan", he is the "man of sin". II Thessalonians 2:4 "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the Temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." Friend, the temple of God is in Jerusalem, and that is were Satan will sit as he rules over the world both politically and presenting himself as God to be worshipped. In both the Old and New Testament it is well documented that Satan, the Antichrist will rule from there. This trial is symbolic of the trials that are yet to come, and Paul just been accused by a sharp religious lawyer, and they have Paul causing insurrection in the nation of Judaea. According to these witness, Caesar is about to lose power, and Paul is setting up an all new government. When all the time, Paul was under the vow of a Nazarite, and being purified to the oath inside the temple. Paul is now defending himself. Paul is not buttering up Felix, but saying that he was pleased to be judged by him, because Paul knew Felix was experienced as a judge and fair. Acts 24:11 "Because that thou mayest understand, that there are yet but twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem for to worship." Paul is telling Felix that they are telling you that that I was forming a new government, yet it is only twelve day since the time I first came to Jerusalem to worship. They are saying that I turned the world up side down in only twelve days. It was on the third day that Paul entered the temple, and on the fifth day Paul was arrested. From that point on, Paul was under the Roman guards. When would this insurrection have taken place. Paul is asking Felix, if there was only twelve total days, when would I have had time to do all of this? Common sense is a wonderful thing, and the truth will always come to the surface. Paul did not have time to turn the nation around, because he was under a vow of the Nazarite that prohibited him from teaching. Acts 24:12 "And they neither found me in the temple disputing with any man, neither raising up the people, neither in the synagogues, nor in the city:" Paul was in the temple taking the vow which prohibited him from even speaking to any man, so he couldn't have spoken to any man in the temple, in the city. Acts 24:13 "Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me." They can not prove any of these things because they were false charges. Acts 24:14 "But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets:" Paul will confess that after the Christian way which they call heresy, I do worship that way. It is the way of the God of my fathers. That way is what is written in the law, and written by the prophets. It is not the traditions of men, of what man has created as a form of worship. These Kenites simply cannot say anything against that, for that is what they also confess to be worshipping. This governor Felix knew more of the way then most have given him credit for. Acts 24:15 "And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust." I have faith and hope in God, and they also believe this. This is Biblical from the law and the Prophets, and there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust for judgment. Paul is again stating a fact that will split those that are accusing him. There are both Pharisees and Sadducees in the group, and the arguing is going to start all over again. Remember how Paul split the crowd in the temple court yard, when he spoke from the steps, then the next day he did the same thing while speaking in the Sanhedrin. Now again Paul has done the same thing. Acts 24:16 "And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men." Paul is saying, I'm not a rebel rouser, and I don't intend to hurt anyones feeling. I am a servant of the living God, and I am following what the law and the prophets have instructed. I only practice what I believe. Acts 24:17 "Now after many years I came to bring alms to my nation, and offerings." Paul had been under the vow, and in this ministry for quite a time, and the alms were that of the Nazarite, that is what he was doing there. The people that lived at this time would understand what the limits of that law or vow and alms would be. The vow of a Nazarite was a very strict thing, and there is no place in it for the accusations that are presented against Paul. That vow is given in Numbers 6, and it details the strictness of obedience to those that take the vow. Acts 24:18 "Whereupon certain Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple, neither with multitude, nor with tumult." Paul is calling attention to the fact that it was foreigners that came into the temple and found me in the taking the purification rites of the seven days, in the temple. There is a deeper thought in this, and when you look deeper into the land of the Kenites, the land of Nod was in Asia, and that is were the sons of Cain originated. They were Asian. I have no problem with the statement that these Asian Jews were Kenites. Acts 24:19 "Who ought to have been here before thee, and object, if they had ought against me." Paul is calling attention to Felix that the ones that accused me are not here in the court. Paul is driving a wedge in Roman law. The original accuser in a trial law, must be present, and these religious types that are here from Jerusalem, Ananias and his bunch are not the ones who bear the witness. Acts 24:20 "Or else let these same here say, if they have found any evil doing in me, while I stood before the council," Paul is telling Felix, these men cannot bear witness of things they have not seen, so let them bear witness to the time that they have seen me, when I stood before them in their council. They have nothing to say, unless they lie about it. Kenites are pretty good about that, and in their religion there is no harm done if they lie. Acts 24:21 "Except it be for this one voice, that I cried standing among them, `Touching the resurrection of the dead I am called in question by you this day.' " If there is any one thing that they have against me this day, it is from my position of the resurrection of the dead. That is what split the council, and caused the stir within their group between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and that is the only thing that I am guilty of. I spoke of the resurrection, and these men standing here began fighting amongst each other. Acts 24:22 "And when Felix heard these thing, having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them, and said, "When Lysias the chief captain shall come down, I will know the utterost of your matter." Felix had a clear understanding [perfect knowledge] of Christianity [that way], and he is going to delay his judgment. I'm going to investigate this matter when Lysias comes again to Caesarea. Felix is buying time to make a judgment. Felix knew that Christians didn't go around as rebel rouses. Thier beliefs caused them to be more to themselves, and loving and caring people, then what Terullus had presented Paul. Then to, they tried to present Paul as one of them, when in fact Paul was not part of their group. The only thing that Felix was concerned with, was Paul speaking against the Roman govenment, or that there was some king other then Caesar. His other concern was that a murder or other major crime had taken place. Roman courts were fair, as long as the judge was fair, and Felix was a fair man. Acts 24:23 "And he commanded a centurion to keep Paul, and to let him have liberty, and that he should forbid none of his acquaintances to minister or come unto him." Luke and the others had the right to visit Paul, and Paul had the run of the court, although Paul was not allowed to leave the building. There is yet to be a charge against Paul, what the Romans call a superstition. Acts 24:24 "And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ." Drusilla was the daughter of King Herod Agrippa I, and had left her first husband, Azizus, king of Emesa, and married Felix. It was no doubt though that it was through Drusilla that Felix had full knowledge of "the Way", and Christianity. Paul had quite a reputation by this time and Drusilla wanted to hear Paul speak. Acts 24:25 "And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, "Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee." As Paul was telling Felix, Drusilla, and Lysias the gospel of Christ, of righteousness, and self-control as well as the judgment to come, Felix was visable shaken, and dismissed Paul. It is understandable why this was, for if Felix accepted Christ, he felt he would be turning his back on Rome, and that could be dangerous for his life and position. Felix was appointed by Caesar and was bound by the laws and the religious beliefs of Rome. It is no wonder that he would tremble at hearing the many miracles that God had performed at the hand of Paul. Acts 24:26 "He hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul, that he might losse him: wherefore he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him." Felix wanted bail money from Paul, so he could turn him lose into the street. He is looking for any excuse to let Paul go. Felix didn't want Paul around, because there was no charge against him, and thus Felix knows Roman position of holding a Roman citizen with out a charge. Acts 24:27 "But after two years Porcius Festus came into Felix room: and Felix, willing to shew the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound." "Porcius" in the Greek means "pigish". Festus has now taken over from Felix and there is a new governor controling Paul. Old piggy Festus doesn't care if there is no charges against Paul, or that Paul is a Roman citizen, he just wants to be friends with everybody. This old dog will hunt with anyone. He is out to please everyone, and Paul's trial will continue.
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