Bound by the Spirit. There is no option for Paul. He must go to Jerusalem. The Spirit compelled him to go, even though prison and suffering were real risks. Then the Spirit compelled people to try and stop him along the way. But Paul persevered in the Lord…
1 After saying farewell to the Ephesian elders, we sailed straight to the island of Cos. The next day we reached Rhodes and then went to Patara. 2 There we boarded a ship sailing for Phoenicia. 3 We sighted the island of Cyprus, passed it on our left, and landed at the harbor of Tyre, in Syria, where the ship was to unload its cargo.
4 We went ashore, found the local believers, and stayed with them a week. These believers prophesied through the Holy Spirit that Paul should not go on to Jerusalem. 5 When we returned to the ship at the end of the week, the entire congregation, including women and children, left the city and came down to the shore with us. There we knelt, prayed, 6 and said our farewells. Then we went aboard, and they returned home.
7 The next stop after leaving Tyre was Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed for one day. 8 The next day we went on to Caesarea and stayed at the home of Philip the Evangelist, one of the seven men who had been chosen to distribute food. 9 He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophecy.
10 Several days later a man named Agabus, who also had the gift of prophecy, arrived from Judea. 11 He came over, took Paul’s belt, and bound his own feet and hands with it. Then he said, “The Holy Spirit declares, ‘So shall the owner of this belt be bound by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and turned over to the Gentiles.’” 12 When we heard this, we and the local believers all begged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.
13 But he said, “Why all this weeping? You are breaking my heart! I am ready not only to be jailed at Jerusalem but even to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus.” 14 When it was clear that we couldn’t persuade him, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”
Acts 21:1-14 NLT
Paul was making his way toward Jerusalem, and we can see here that everyone thought it was a bad idea. The Holy Spirit declared to the prophets he met on his journey that Paul would be arrested in Jerusalem. Why would he walk into that?
Well, we see here in the example of Paul’s trip to Jerusalem that the Spirit can reveal opposing ideas to different people. No, that’s impossible. God would not contradict himself. It must be one way or the other. The objections write themselves.
In verse 4 the believers of Tyre prophesied “through the Holy Spirit that Paul should not go on to Jerusalem.” In verse 10, while Paul was in Caesarea, Agabus said, “The Holy Spirit declares, ‘So shall the owner of this belt be bound by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and turned over to the Gentiles.’” We see they begged him not to go. What could be unclear about this?
Back in Acts 20, we see the Spirit doing something different in Paul. He was hurrying to get to Jerusalem in time for the festival of Pentecost (Acts 20:16). This intention – this compulsion – to get there was from the Holy Spirit:
22 “And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, 23 except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. 24 But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.”
Acts 20:22-24 NLT
Bound by the Spirit. There doesn’t seem to be any option there. Paul must go to Jerusalem. In fact, the Spirit had revealed to Paul that prison and suffering were in his future. I think that was on his mind and heart since he began his missionary journeys. He knew what he was into when Jesus called him into service.
And so we see that the Spirit compelled Paul to go to Jerusalem, and then revealed to other believers to warn him and even try to stop him. That seems contradictory. Spirit, what are you doing? There is some thought that the believers in Tyre and Agabus took the inference themselves that Paul should not continue toward Jerusalem. Some believe the Holy Spirit revealed his fate but did not direct the believers to try to stop him. That interpretation seems contradictory to Acts 21:4. The Greek transliteration is that they kept telling Paul ‘through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem.’
Let’s allow the Spirit to have said that to them. It’s okay. In our human understanding, we need to reconcile these things. Paul didn’t share our view. It would have been very easy for Paul to have replied in every instance that the Spirit had compelled him to go to Jerusalem. It wasn’t his will. It was God’s will. But Paul did not offer this clarification. Rather, he used it as an opportunity to demonstrate to them that he was willing to suffer for the sake of Christ.
Therefore, they should be willing to do the same. This is the Christian experience. This is the missionary’s lot. There will be opposition, and when it is time for that opposition to rise to the point of physical violence, imprisonment, or death, the missionary accepts that they are following Jesus down this road. He went there first. It was the Lord’s will for Paul to go to Jerusalem. It was the Lord’s will for people to try to stop him. It was the Lord’s will for Paul to persevere through those tests to stay committed to his purpose. And it was the Lord’s will for Paul to endure his fate in Jerusalem.
We will find in the coming days that the Lord isn’t done with Paul yet, because his servant is right where he wants him. God is looking for people who would say, “For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain,” (Philippians 1:21). He can change the world through people who are this selfless and faithful…
Amen.
Marc Kinna
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