Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: ACTS #35 - 21:1-14])
D. 21:1-14 LESSONS ON WARNINGS FROM THE SPIRIT
1. 21:1-6 WARNING OF THE SPIRIT
a. 21:1-2 FROM MILETUS TOWARDS PHOENICIA
Hos de eGEne-to anachTHEnai [321]heMAS a-po-spasTHENtas [645]ap' auTON,
And when it came to pass that we were parted from them and had set sail,
eu-thu-droMEsan-tes [2113] ELtho-men eis ten Ko,
we came with a straight course unto :Cos,
tede heXES eis ten 'ROdon, ka' 'KEIthen eis PAta-ra:
and the next day unto :Rhodes, and from there unto Patara:
kai heuRONtes PLOIon [4143] di-a-peRON [1276]eis PhoiNIken, e-piBANtes [1910],aNECHthe-men.
2and having found a ship crossing over unto Phoenicia, we went aboard, andset sail.
b. 21:3 PAST CYPRUS TO TYRE
a-naPHAnan-tes [398]de ten KUpron, kai ka-ta-liPONtes [2641]auTEN euOnu-mon [2176],
And when we had sighted :Cyprus, and leaving it on the left,
ePLEo-men eis SuRIan, kai kaTELtho-men [2609]eis TUron;
we sailed to Syria, and landed at Tyre;
eKEIse gar to PLOIon en a-po-phor-tiZOme-non [670]ton GOmon [1117].
for there the ship was to unload her :cargo.
c. 21:4 PROPHETIC WARNING TO PAUL
a-neuRONtes [429] de tous ma-theTAS, e-peMEIna-men [19611auTOU heMEras hepTA:
And having found the disciples, we tarried there seven days:
HOti-nes toPAUlo Ele-gon diA tou PNEUma-tos, mee-piBAInein [1910]eis Ie-roSOlu-ma.
andthese told :Paul through the Spirit, not to set foot in Jerusalem.
d. 21:5-6 FROM TYRE - BACK ABOARD SHIP
HOte de eGEne-to heMAS e-xarTIsai [1822]tas heMEras,
And when it came to pass that we had accomplished the days,
e-xelTHONtes e-po-reuOme-tha [4198]; pro-pemPONton [4311]heMAS PANton
we departed and went on; all, with wives and children,
sun gu-naiXI kai TEKnois, HEos Exo tes POleos:
bringing us on till out of the city:
kai THENtes ta GOna-ta ePI ton ai-gi-aLON [123], pro-seuXAme-noi, a-pe-spaSAme-tha [782]alLElous;
and kneeling on the beach, we prayed, 6andbade each other farewell;
kai eNEbe-men eis to PLOIon, eKEInoi de huPEstre-psan [5290]eis ta Idi-a.
and we went on board:ship, but they returned :home.
2. 21:7-14 FOREWARNINGS BUT STRENGTHEN TO DO GOD'S WILL
a. 21:7 PAUL'S TEAM ARRIVES AT PTOLEMAIS
HeMEIS de ton ploun [4144]di-aNUsan-tes [1274]aPO TUrou,
And when we had finished the voyage from Tyre,
ka-tenTEsa-men [2658]eis Pto-lemaIda; kai as-paSAme-noi [782]tous a-delPHOUS,
we arrived at Ptolemais; and we greeted the brethren,
eMEIna-men heMEran MIan par' auTOIS.
andabode with them one day.
b. 21:8 NEXT STEP: PHILIP'S HOME AT CAESAREA
tede ePAUri-on e-xelTHONtes, ELtha-men eis KaiSAri-an:
And on the morrow we departed, and came unto Caesarea:
kai ei-selTHONtes eis ton OIkon PhiLIPpou tou eu-ag-ge-liSTOU [2099],
and entering into the house of Philip the evangelist,
ONtos ek ton hepTA, eMEIna-men [3306]par' auTO.
who was one of the seven, we abode with him.
c. 21:9 Now this manhad four virgin daughters, who prophesied.
TOUtode Esan thu-gaTEres TESsa-res parTHEnoi [3933], pro-pheTEUou-sai [4395].
d. 21:10 And as we tarried some days, a certain prophet came down from Judaea, Agabus by name.
e-pi-meNONton de heMEras PLEIous, kaTEL-THEN tis aPO tes 'IouDAIas proPHEtes, oNOma-ti Aga-bos.
e. 21:11 MESSAGE OF AGABUS TO PAUL
kai elTHON pros huMAS, kai Aras [142] ten ZOnen [2223] tou PAUlou,
And coming unto us, and taking the girdle of Paul,
DEsas [1210] he-auTOU tous POdas kai tas CHEIras, EIpen,
he bound his own :feet and :hands, andsaid,
TAde LEgei to PNEUma to HAgi-on, Ton ANdra HOU es-tin he ZOne
These thingssays the Holy :Spirit, Thus shall the Jews
HAUte HOUtos DEsou-sin [1210] en Ie-rou-saLEM hoi IouDAIoi, kai pa-raDOsou-sin eis CHEIras ethNON.
at Jerusalem bind the man whose this :girdle is, and shall deliver himinto thehands of thenations.
f. 21:12 PAUL URGED NOT TO GO TO JERUSALEM
hos de eKOUsa-men TAUta, pa-re-kaLOUmen [3870] heMEIS te kai hoi
And when we heard these things, both we and they
enTOpi-oi tou me anaBAInein auTON eis Ie-rou-saLEM.
of that place besought him not to go up to Jerusalem.
g. 21:13 PAULS READINESS TO SUFFER FOR CHRIST'S SAKE
TOte a-peKRIthe ho PAUlos, Ti poiEIte, KLAIon-tes [2799] kai sunTHRUPtonTES [4919] mou ten karDIan?
Then :Paul answered, What do you do, weeping and breaking my :heart?
eGO gar ou MOnon deTHEnai [1210], alLA kai a-po-thaNEIN [599] eis Ie-rou-saLEM
for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem
heTOImos Echo huPER tou oNOma-tos tou KuRIou IeSOU.
for the name of the Lord Jesus.
h. 21:14 And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done.
me pei-thoMEnou [3982]de auTOU, he-suCHAsa-men [2270], eiPONtes, Tou KuRIou to THElema giNEStho.
NOTE: 21:9 - The four daughters of Philip prophesied (pro-pheTEUou-sai), which would correspond with the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:8-11. But this would notplace them in the officeof prophet, as in Ephesians 4:11-12. The feminine equivalent form is #4398 proPHEtis, but Philip's 4 daughters are notin this category.
21:10-14 - Paul in the past mentioned that in city after city prophecies came forth of bonds that awaited him in Jerusalem. This was confirmed in Tyre (21:4). But Agabus in the latter part of this reading, like Ezekiel of old, acted out what would happen to Paul should he go up to Jerusalem.
It is important to note here how Paul lived out these prophecies - he did notlet them distract him from what hebelieved was the Lord's guidanceat this time for his life. Were the prophecies true? Absolutely. But from Paul's viewpoint, they were notto take precedence over the more important guidance from God. There are believers today who will go a thousand miles to get a word from the Lord. But - do they know how to get directguidance from Him, that supersedes prophetic words and revelation? This is a serious situation. Fully committed disciples like Paul - do not live on the level of prophetic guidance from others, even though authentic. They have so progressed into the Lord like Oswald Chambers, George Muller and Rees Howells - that theirguidance is a direct word from the Lord. Does one often hear this distinction made today?
Confirmation to Paul in the above - can be found in the life of Elisha when his mentor Elijah was about to be taken from him (2 King 2:3) - “And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Do you know that Jehovah will take away your master from your head today? And he said, Yes, I know it; hold your peace.” This happened again with the prophets from Jericho 2 verses later. Elisha did not need confirmation from the gift of prophecy. As a prophet, he like Paul had direct guidance from the Lord. We need to “come up higher”, and not live in the realm of depending upon gifts of the Spirit for guidance. They can be true words as to what is about to happen should we follow a certain course - but notthe personal word and guidance of the Lord for us.
Many are confused over this passage with Paul, Agabus and the other prophets. Perhaps these words will help some to sort out the above, lead them to “move to higher ground” like Paul and Elisha, and not missthe trueguidance of the Lord. J.A.W.