The mission team has just said goodbye to the elders from Ephesus at Miletus and now they continue on toward Jerusalem.
"After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Kos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara." (Acts 21:1) You may have heard of the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The people of Rhodes commissioned the 110 foot tall statue of the sun god Helios to commemorate their military victory over the ruler of Cyprus. The statue did not stand for long; it was destroyed by an earthquake about fifty years after its construction. This happening is over two hundred years in the past as the Apostle Paul stops at the port of Rhodes. The statue of the sun god, a god who never lived at all, no longer exists as Paul and his companions take the gospel of the Son of God, who lives forever, to the world.
"We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail. After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo." (Acts 21:2-3) The men have to wait several days at Tyre while the freighter unloads its cargo, so they decide to make the most of their time there. "We sought out the disciples there and stayed with them seven days." (Acts 21:4a) We don't know who took the gospel to Tyre but the mission team finds believers there. This was foretold by the author of Psalm 87 who mentions Tyre as one of the cities where there will be found those who acknowledge the Lord's name. (Psalm 87:4)
The disciples at Tyre have the same sense of foreboding that Paul has. Something is going to happen to him at Jerusalem. They don't want anything to happen to him so they try to convince him not to go. "Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem." (Acts 21:4b) I don't think the Holy Spirit is telling Paul not to go but that the disciples don't want him to go because they care for him. I don't think Paul would have gone up to Jerusalem if it had not been God's will for him to go. At the same time I don't believe the Holy Spirit wanted him to be ignorant of the risk he was taking. The Lord Jesus spoke of the cost of being His disciple (Luke 14:25-33) and He advised His followers to first count the cost of being a disciple before making the commitment. The Holy Spirit reveals to Paul that it is God's will for him to go to Jerusalem but that he will pay a price for his obedience. Paul is given the opportunity to count the cost of discipleship. After counting the cost, he decides Christ is worth it. He decides Christ is worth everything. He will someday say from a Philippian jail that he counts everything garbage that he lost for the sake of Christ, Christ being more precious to him than anyone or anything else ever could be. (Philippians 3:7-11)
When the ship is ready to set sail the mission team gets on board. "When it was time to leave, we left and continued on our way. All of them, including wives and children, accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray. After saying goodbye to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home." (Acts 21:5-6) What a beautiful picture this makes in my mind, all these believers kneeling together in the sand, perhaps as the sun comes up over the ocean. The disciples haven't been able to persuade Paul to avoid Jerusalem so they send him on his way with their blessing as they pray earnestly for his safety.
"We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day." (Acts 21:7) Ptolemais was a seaport in the territory of Galilee. The believers there show hospitality to the mission team and everyone enjoys a day of fellowship and mutual encouragement.
"Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied." (Acts 21:8-9) In Acts 6 we find a list of the Seven who were chosen to assist the Greek widows; the martyred Stephen being one of them. Following the stoning death of Stephen many of the believers fled Jerusalem for safer regions, but they took the gospel with them. Philip evidently settled in Caesarea and preached the gospel there. Luke specifically takes time to mention the gifts of prophecy that Philip's daughters have, and it could be because they too predict that trouble awaits Paul at Jerusalem, but if so Luke doesn't provide us with the details.
"After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. Coming over to us, he took Paul's belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, 'The Holy Spirit says, 'In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.' When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem." (Acts 21:10-12) Did Agabus come down from Judea solely to deliver this message? That could be the case. It may be that the Holy Spirit was saying to Paul through Agabus, "Here is what is going to happen at Jerusalem. Knowing this, are you still all in? Are you still ready to risk everything for Christ?" The believers urge Paul not to go, but he is all in. He is ready to risk everything for Christ.
"Then Paul answered, 'Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.' When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, 'The Lord's will be done.'" (Acts 21:13-14) Luke himself is one of those who tries to keep Paul from going to Jerusalem, but when he and the others see that Paul's mind is made up, they resign themselves to whatever is coming. It is the Lord's will for Paul to go. It is the Lord's will for him to be arrested. They don't know why these things are the Lord's will, but they are willing to trust Him.
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