Saul\u2019s Escape from Damascus\u2014Act_9:23-25<\/p>\n
The duration of Saul\u2019s stay in Arabia is uncertain. It is stated by himself, in his Epistle to the Galatians, that his return to Jerusalem, to which be repaired after his final departure from Damascus, was \u201cthree years\u201d subsequent to his conversion. This does not necessarily express three complete years; but may, according to Hebrew usage, denote one entire year, and parts of two other years; just as our Lord is said to have lain \u201cthree days\u201d in the tomb, though it was in reality but one whole day and parts of two other days. In the direct narrative in the Acts, which overlooks the intermediate journey into Arabia, the interval is covered by the general phrase of \u201cmany days;\u201d and it is a curious coincidence, that in the Old Testament the same phrase of \u201cmany days\u201d is used to denote a space of \u201cthree years.\u201d Note: 1Ki_2:38-39, \u201cAnd Shimei dwelt at Jerusalem many days; area it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran away.\u201d Whether the interval was three entire years, or three incomplete years, which may have been as little as a year and a half, there are no data for the distribution of the period between the two visits to Damascus and the intermediate sojourn in Arabia. The general impression, which results from the comparison of the different narratives and intimations, seems, however, in our judgment, to be that the first visit to Damascus was of short duration, the sojourn in Arabia of comparatively considerable length, and the final visit to Damascus much longer than the first, if not so long as that of the retirement into Arabia.<\/p>\n
But we cannot proceed without pointing out the very satin factory manner in which the long interval of \u201cmany days,\u201d explained as three years, is thus accounted for. From the direct narrative in the Acts it might appear difficult to account for the fact that Saul should, under the circumstances, <\/p>\n
have remained so long at Damascus unmolested by the Jews; but all this is obviated when we find, from the other account, that although the period commenced and ended at Damascus, there was an intermediate residence in Arabia, so that the period of \u201cmany days\u201d covers three visits, two to Damascus, and one into Arabia. It is only, therefore, by comparing the narratives that we get at the full account, by which all difficulties are obviated, and all the discrepancies are removed. And in this we find very noticeable evidence of the simple truthfulness and integrity of the sacred writers. Here we have two accounts, neither of which is complete without the other. In the leading narrative in the Acts of the Apostles, Luke has left a chasm which he has nowhere else supplied. But that chasm we are enabled to fill up by the apostle him self, in letters written long after, and without any design to complete the history of Luke; for the introduction of this account of the transaction into the Epistle to the Galatians, was for a very different purpose\u2014that is, as was two evenings age explained, to show that he received his commission directly from the Lord Jesus, and in a manner independent of the other apostles. The two accounts are therefore like the two parts of a tally; neither is complete without the other, and yet, being put together, they so exactly fit into each other, as to show that the one is precisely adjusted to, and is the counterpart of, the other. And as these two parts are supplied by different persons without the least design of adapting them to each other, they show that the writers had formed no collusion or agreement to impose upon the world; that they are separate and independent witnesses; that they were honest men; that their narratives are true records of what actually occurred; and that the two narratives, therefore, constitute a strong and very valuable proof of the correctness of the sacred narrative.<\/p>\n
Dr. Paley, who has very ably wrought out this species of argument through a variety of illustrations drawn from the comparison of the Acts and the Epistles, observes of the present case: \u201cBeside the difference observable in the terms and general complexion of these two accounts, the journey into Arabia, mentioned in the Epistle, and omitted in the history affords full proof that there existed no correspondence between these writers. If the narrative in the Acts had been made up from the Epistle, it is impossible that this journey should be passed over in silence. If the Epistle had been compiled out of what the writer had read of Paul\u2019s history in the Acts, it is unaccountable that it should have been inserted.\u201d Note: Hor\u00e6 Paulin\u00e6, Chap. v., No. 1. Edited by Rev. T.R. Birks, 1850.<\/p>\n
If we are led further to ask why Luke should omit this important particular in the Acts, it may be answered that there are many facts and circumstances omitted in all histories from the necessity of the case. This is very broadly stated by one of the sacred historians, with reference to the history of our Lord\u2014Joh_21:25.<\/p>\n
After his return to Damascus, Saul seems to have resumed his former course, \u201cpreaching boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus.\u201d Being unable to meet him in controversy, the Jews conspired to take his life\u2014not seemingly by any judicial process, but by assassination\u2014a resort for the removal of adversaries which had already become common in that age, and for which hired agents were never wanting. The plot, however, transpired, though we know not in what way. Saul became acquainted with it. It would seem that he then no longer appeared in public, but kept himself in retirement. His enemies, however, felt assured that he had not left the city; and their influence with the governor of Damascus was sufficient to enable them to obtain an order that the gates should be watched for his apprehension, should he attempt to escape. The walls were lofty, and there seemed no other mode of egress than by the gates. But the anxiety of the disciples for the preservation of a life so precious, found a means of deliverance, which the zealous watchfulness of the \u201cliers in wait\u201d had overlooked. It is usual in the East for houses to be built against the inside of the town wall, so that many of the house tops are nearly, if not quite, on a level with its summit. Sometimes, indeed, the upper part of the houses rises considerably above the level of the wall, and then sometimes an upper apartment even overhangs the wall, forming a kiosk, where the master of the house can, in his recreative moments, sit alone or with his friends, enjoying the view of the open country. We might therefore infer, from the leading narrative alone, that it was from some such house that the apostle was let down in a basket; but his own information, given in 2Co_11:33, that the basket was let down \u201cthrough a window,\u201d places this beyond question.<\/p>\n
House on Wall at Damascus<\/p>\n
Houses built against, upon, or overhanging the wall of the city, are still to be seen at Damascus; some of them near the spot, hard by the Jerusalem Gate, where tradition, with its usual determinateness, places the precise spot of Saul\u2019s escape. \u201cPassing through the gate of Jerusalem,\u201d says Dr. Durbin, \u201cI cast my eyes up to the top of the wall and observed that houses were built upon it; and near one of them was a walled up portal and window, through the latter of which, Christian tradition says the apostle was let down in a basket when he escaped for his life; and, according to Moslem tradition, the reign of Mohammedanism shall cease whenever a Christian shall enter the gate through the former. Hence it is strongly built up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Autor: JOHN KITTO<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Saul\u2019s Escape from Damascus\u2014Act_9:23-25 The duration of Saul\u2019s stay in Arabia is uncertain. It is stated by himself, in his Epistle to the Galatians, that his return to Jerusalem, to which be repaired after his final departure from Damascus, was \u201cthree years\u201d subsequent to his conversion. This does not necessarily express three complete years; but … Continue reading ““771. SAUL\u2019S ESCAPE FROM DAMASCUS\u2014ACTS 9:23-25””<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17123\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}