Hello and Welcome to the Women’s Weekly Bible Challenge! I’m Lisa Ann Spencer.
Today is the final session, Part 9, of this series titled,
When the Holy Spirit Speaks to Women. We will finish our study of all
the women in the book of Acts.
REVIEW
Our last lesson in Acts chapter 19 was a separate
study on “Goddess, Devils & Evil Spirits” to show that Diana was the same
goddess found in the Old Testament. You
can find that study by clicking here:
Shortly after the uproar concerning Diana, the
Apostle Paul departed Ephesus with the intent of arriving in JERUSALEM for the
day of Pentecost. Keep in mind that this
is many years, perhaps two decades, after the first notable day of Pentecost in
Acts chapter 2, when the Holy Spirit came down upon the children of Israel.
Much had changed since then. The nation of Israel had fallen from their exalted
position as God’s chosen nation, and they were brought low like the Gentile
nations. Romans 11:32 tells us that God
concluded all [Israel and the Gentiles] in unbelief that He might have mercy
upon all.
The Gentiles, according to Old Testament prophecy,
were to come to God through the nation of Israel; but since the nation fell
when they rejected their risen Messiah, the Gentiles could no longer come to
God through Israel. This is why God
called the Apostle Paul to take this newly revealed gospel of the grace of God unto
the heathen (Galatians 2:9). The heathen
are all those outside of the LITTLE FLOCK, that small group within the nation
of Israel who were saved under the gospel of the kingdom in early Acts.
Here are some scriptures regarding the little flock
for your consideration. The little flock
is the foolish nation of Old Testament prophecy.
Luke
12:32 Fear not, little flock;
for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Matthew 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The
kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing
forth the fruits thereof.
Deuteronomy 32:21 They have moved me to jealousy
with that which is not
God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them
to jealousy with those which are not
a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
Romans 10:19 But I say, Did not Israel know?
First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I
will anger you.
Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter
and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men,
they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
PAUL DEPARTS
In Acts 20:1 Paul departs from Ephesus to go to
Macedonia.
Here is where a BIBLE ATLAS is very handy, as many
locations are mentioned in the next few chapters.
Acts 20:2-3 tells us that Paul went over Macedonia
then came to Greece where he stayed for 3 months. It is here from where the book of ROMANS was written.
Acts 20:4-6 Paul prepares to sail to Syria – the location of Paul’s
home church in Antioch – but he decided to return through Macedonia. Seven men accompanied him into Asia (Minor), which
is modern-day Turkey. These met Paul in
Troas (in Asia minor) where they stayed 7 days.
Acts 20:7-12 is about Paul’s long preaching, when at
midnight a young man named Eutychus, fell asleep and fell out of a third story
window. The text says that he was taken up dead, but Paul raised him from the
dead which comforted the church at Troas.
We learn from this passage that Paul is
still doing miracles at this time. In
the previous chapter, we read about Paul casting out evil spirits (Acts19:12-13). The Apostle Paul’s miraculous ministries will not continue to operate
throughout the duration of his Apostleship.
Paul explains to his audience in 1Corinthians chapter 13, that when the complete revelation of the word of
God is finished, the sign gifts of healing, tongues, and words of prophecy would
cease. He considered the sign gifts as
childish things in comparison to the complete revelation of the word of God.
Paul’s healing gift ceased.
Read
2 Corinthians 12:7-9 to understand that Paul asked God for a healing miracle,
and God said no.
PAUL’S JOURNEY CONTINUES
In Acts 20:11-13, after Paul raised up Eutychus from
the dead, Paul stayed up all night talking with the church in Troas, then he
walked to Assos where he finally got on a ship with his companions. The company
sails to Mitylene, Chios, Samos, Trogyllium, and Miletus.
Acts20:16 states that Paul was determined to sail by Ephesus,
meaning not to go into the city because he was determined to be in Jerusalem by
the day of Pentecost. Instead, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the
church to come to him in Miletus. Paul gave
them a farewell speech which included a warning about false teachers coming
into the church at Ephesus, and that even some of the Ephesian elders would
pervert the gospel that Paul preached.
📓NOTE:
By the end of Paul’s ministry, he writes his last letter to Timothy and sadly
says in 2 Timothy 1:15 that “… all they which are in Asia be turned away from me…”
Before Paul leaves the Ephesian elders, he commends
them to the word of God. This is good
advice for us today! We no longer have Paul with us, but we have his letters
preserved in the word of God for our learning and growth.
The company left Miletus and sailed to Coos, Rhodes,
Patara, Phenecia, and Syria; they landed at the city of Tyre, where they
tarried 7 days with disciples. Those
disciplines warned Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.
FIRST MENTION OF WOMEN
READ Acts 21:5 which mentions the wives and children among the disciples
of Tyre who accompanied Paul to the shore.
They kneeled down and prayed with Paul before his departure towards
Jerusalem. As we read through the Bible, it is easy to forget about the women and children who are a part of the ministry. A verse like this is a good reminder that they are always present.
The company sailed from Tyre to Ptolemais, where
they spent one day with the brethren, and the next day they came to Caesarea.
PHILIP'S FOUR DAUGHTERS, WHICH DID PROPHECY
This Philip is not one of the 12 Apostles. He is described as “the evangelist,” and “one
of the seven.” We first encounter this Philip in Acts 6:5, when 7 men were appointed to attend to the Grecian Jews,
the widows from other nations that had sold all their belongings and laid them
at the Apostle’s feet. These women were
overlooked in the daily distribution of food.
(Stephen, also one of the 7, was stoned by the leaders of Israel.)
Philip left Jerusalem after Stephen’s stoning when the persecuted church was scattered (Acts 8:1-4; 11:19). When Philip scattered, he preached to Jews in Samaria, and to the Ethiopian Eunuch. This is why Philip is called the evangelist. The Lord “caught away” Philip and he was found in the city of Azotus, which was also known as Ashdod in the Old Testament, a city of the Philistines. Philip was translated him from southern Israel to Ashdod, and from there here came to Caesarea in northern Israel. (This material was already covered in an earlier Blog.) He remained in Caesarea up unto this time in Acts 20, which is about 20 years or so later. We are not told that Philip had a wife in early Acts, but by Acts 20 he has 4 daughters, virgins, which did prophecy.
What was the content of these virgin daughter’s
prophecy? To answer this, we have to go back
to what happened on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, where we read about Joel’s
prophecy being fulfilled.
Read
ACTS 2:16-18.
Joel’s prophecy clearly taught that daughters and
handmaidens would prophecy.
We read in Acts2:8-11 that those who spoke in tongues on the day of Pentecost, spoke the
wonderful works of God. Just as we read
in 1 Corinthians 14:6, when a gift of tongues was still operating, “every
person had a psalm”. Many of the Psalms
are prophesies of the wonderful works of God.
It is likely that these four daughters spoke or sang Psalms.
We can know with certainty that they did not
prophecy of future events because in the very next verses (Acts 21:10-11) Agabus,
a male prophet, came to Caesarea to Philips house to warn Paul of an impending
future event.
This passage regarding Philip’s daughters gives us some
context for the references to women “praying or prophesying with their heads
uncovered” in 1 Corinthians 11:5. I wrote
a lengthy BLOG on the topic of “head covering” where I go into great detail
about these “praying and prophesying” women, who they were and why they were prophesying. You can read that BLOG by clicking HERE:
In Acts 21:15, Paul and company left Caesarea and
finally arrived at Jerusalem.
JAMES, HEAD OF THE JERUSALEM CHURCH
The Apostle Paul meets with James, the leader of the
Jewish church in Jerusalem. James encourages Paul to take a vow with 4 Jewish
men in the Temple, so that all the Jews in Jerusalem will see that Paul keeps
the Law of Moses.
James is now the head of the church, the Little
Flock of believing Israel in Jerusalem.
We do not see Peter acting as head of the church, which indicates a
change in dispensations. Peter, James
and John were the leaders of the early church, but that James was killed. Peter is not seen operating in a leadership
role after Acts 12:17, including the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15.
Acts
21:15 is especially notable. 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.
This comes directly
from Acts chapter 15.
Acts
15:29 that ye abstain from meats offered to
idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from
which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.
I encourage you to read the remainder of chapters 21
and 22, which covers Paul speech to the nation of Israel on the day of
Pentecost. It is important to understand
a few things as you read.
1. The
day of Pentecost is a major Jewish Holy Day when all of the males from the
nation of Israel were required by Law to present themselves at the Temple in
Jerusalem.
a. The Little
Flock. These are those men of the
nation of Israel who had believed that Jesus was their Messiah under the gospel
of the kingdom that the 12 Apostles preached.
They continued to keep the Law and meet at the Temple daily.
b. Unbelieving
Israel. These are in a fallen
condition. God has rejected them, but
they do not accept that truth. They
continue to worship God as they always have, which is now offensive to God.
In Paul’s speech, when he said in Acts 22:21 that God sent him to the
Gentiles, the Jew’s went mad and tried to kill Paul. They do not accept God’s new revelation to
the Apostle Paul, who sent him to the Gentiles.
Paul is arrested and stands trial before the
Sanhedrin: which consists of the chief priests and the whole council of 70 elders. You can read Paul’s defense in Acts 23:1-10.
THE LAST WOMEN OF ACTS
The remainder of the book of Acts mentions three
more women. God does not directly
address these women, but their presence was important enough for God to include
them in the book of Acts, which is notable.
In Acts 23:16, Paul’s sister is referenced indirectly. Her son helps stop a plan by the Jews to kill
Paul.
In Acts 24:24, Paul is taken to the Felix, the
governor in Caesarea. The Jews travel to
Caesarea to testify against Paul before Felix.
A few days later Paul stood trial before Governor Felix and his wife Drusilla,
who is a Jewess. Paul gives his defense
and clearly shares the truth with the audience. You can read that in Acts24:24-25.
As a result, Paul was left bound in Caesarea for 2
YEARS as a political favor to the Jews. When a new Governor arose in Felix’s
office, Porcius Festus, the unbelieving Jews brought their case against Paul to
the new governor.
Festus and the Jews brought Paul to the Judgement Seat
once again. You can read Paul’s testimony in Acts 25:8-12, where he demands to
be tried in Caesar’s court and not in Jerusalem because Paul knew he would not
get a fair trial and that the Jews would kill him. Days later, King Agrippa and
(his sister)
Bernice show up at Caesarea to greet Festus, the new Governor, who
informed the king about Paul’s case. King
Agrippa and Bernice heard Paul’s case, which you can read about in Acts 26.
Bernice is the last woman mentioned in the book of Acts,
with the exception of the female reference to the ship on which Paul sailed (Acts
27:15,32). Multiple accounts from secular
history indicate that Bernice was a Jew and the great-granddaughter of Herod
the Great. She was involved in an
incestuous relationship with her brother, the King Agrippa that is referenced
in Acts chapter 25. She later became the
lover of the Roman General Titus who destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD.
I have to wonder if she was uncomfortable hearing
the Apostle Paul’s testimony.
THE END
Here ends our study of When the Holy Spirit
Speaks to Women. Thank you for
following along with me on this journey. In a future series I will begin to
study The Women of the Apostle Paul’s Letters. I hope you’ll join me.
The material covered in this Blog can be found in
this YouTube video:
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