Acts 21:15-26

[Jim Watt]

“*TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE” MINISTRIES*

*Jim & Marie Watt*

*Tel: 253-517-9195 - Email: jmbetter at gmail.com*

*Web: www.2rbetter.org*

*April 5, 2010 <http://www.2rbetter.org/>*


   *XIX. ACTS 21:15-24:27 PAUL'S CONSTRAINT: TO WARN AND SAVE THE LOST*


 *A. 21:15-16 PROVIDENTIAL PROVISION AT JERUSALEM*

*a. 21:15 TO JERUSALEM*

MeTA de tas h*e*MEras TAUtas e-pi-skeu-aSAme-noi [643]

*And after these :days we made ready our baggage*

a-neBAIno-men eis 'Ie-roSOlu-ma.

*and went up to Jerusalem.*


 *b. 21:16 ACCOMPANIED WITH DISCIPLES FROM CAESAREA AND CYPRUS*

suN*E*Lthon de kai t*o*n ma-th*e*T*O*N aPO Kai-saRIas sun huMIN,

*And some of the disciples from Caesarea also went with us,*

Agon-tes par' h*o* xe-nisTH*O*men [3579], MNAs*o*NI ti-ni KuPRI*o*,

*bringing us to one Mnason of Cyprus,*

arCHAI*o* [744] ma-th*e*T*E*.

*an early disciple, with whom we should lodge.*



 *B. 21:17-26 BY ALL MEANS SAVE SOME*

*a. 21:17 A JERUSALEM WELCOME*

Ge-noMEn*o*n de h*e*M*O*N eis 'Ie-roSOlu-ma,

*And when we were come to Jerusalem,*

asMEn*o*s [780] a-peDExan-to [1209] h*e*MAS hoi a-delPHOI.

*the brethren received us gladly.*


 *b. 21:18 PAUL VISITS JAMES AND ELDERS*

t*e* de e-piOUs*e* [1966] eiS*E*ei ho PAUlos sun h*e*MIN pros 'IAk*o*-bon;

*and the day following :Paul went in with us unto James;*

PANtes te pa-reGEnon-to [3854] hoi presBUte-roi.

*and all the elders were present.*


 *c. 21:19 PAUL REPORTS HOW THE LORD USED HIM AMONG THE NATIONS*

kai a-spaSAme-nos [782] auTOUS,

*And when he had greeted them,*

e-x*e*GEIto [1834] kath' hen HEka-ston h*o*n ePOI*e*-sen ho TheOS

*he rehearsed one by one the things which :God*

en tois ETHne-sin diA t*e*s di-a-koNIas [1248] auTOU.

*had wrought among the nations through his :ministry.*


 *d. 21:20-21 GOD GLORIFIED VERSUS CONCERN OF LAW-KEEPERS*

hoi de, aKOUsan-tes, eDOxa-zon [1392] ton TheON;

*And they, when they heard it, glorified :God;*

EI-PAN te auT*O*, The-*o*REIS, a-delPHE,

*and they said to him, You behold, brother,*

POsai mu-riAdes eiSIN en tois 'IouDAIois t*o*n

*how many myriads are among the Jews of them*

pe-pi-steuKOt*o*n; kai PANtes z*e*-l*o*TAI [2207] tou NOmou huPARchou-sin:

*that have believed; and all are zealots for the law:*

ka-t*e*CH*E*th*e*-san [2727] de peRI sou,

*21 and they have been informed concerning you,*

HOti a-po-staSIan [646] diDAskeis aPO M*o*-uSE*o*s tous kaTA ta ETHn*e*

*that you teach all the Jews who are among the nations*

PANtas 'IouDAIous, LEg*o*n m*e* pe-riTEMnein [4059] auTOUS ta TEKna,

*to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise the children,*

m*e*DE tois Ethe-sin [1485] pe-ri-paTEIN.,

*neither to walk after the customs.*


 *e. 21:22 What is it therefore? they will certainly hear that you are come.
*

ti OUN es-tin? PANt*o*s aKOUson-tai HOti eL*E*lu-thas.


 *f. 21:23-24 COUNSEL OF JAMES AND ELDERS FOR PAUL*

TOUto oun POI*e*-son ho soi LEgo-men:

*Do therefore this that we say to you:*

eiSIN h*e*MIN ANdres TESsa-res euCH*E*N [2171] Echon-tes aph' he-auT*O*N;

*We have four men that have a vow from themselves;*

TOUtous pa-ra-laB*O*N, hagNISth*e*-ti [48] sun auTOIS,

*24 these take, and purify yourself with them,*

kai daPAn*e*-son [1159] ep' auTOIS, HIna xuR*E*son-tai [3587] t*e*n ke-phaL*
E*N:

*and be at charges for them, that they may shave their heads:*

kai GN*O*son-tai PANtes HOti

*and all shall know that there is nothing*

h*o*n kaT*E*ch*e*n-tai [2727] peRI sou ouDEN es-tin;

*in what they have been informed concerning you;*

alLA stoiCHEIS [4748] kai auTOS phuLASs*o*n [5442] ton NOmon.

*but that yourself also are firm keeping the law.*


 *g. 21:25 JAMES REVIEWS THE ACTS 15 DECISION*

peRI de t*o*n pe-pi-steuKOt*o*n ethN*O*N, h*e*MEIS a-peSTEIla-men,

*But about the nations that have believed, WE sent,*

KRInan-tes [2919] phuLASses-thai [5442] auTOUS

*giving judgment that they keep themselves*

TO te ei-d*o*LOthu-ton [1494], kai HAIma [129],

*from both what is sacrificed to idols, and from blood,*

kai pnikTON [4156], kai porNEIan [4202].

*and from what is strangled, and from fornication.*


 *h. 21:26 PAUL ACCEDES TO THEIR COUNSEL*

TOte ho PAUlos pa-ra-laB*O*N tous ANdras t*e* e-choMEn*e* h*e*MEra

*Then :Paul took the men the next day purifying himself*

sun auTOIS hag-nisTHEIS [48], eiS*E*ei eis to hi-eRON,

*with them, and went into the temple,*

di-agGELl*o*n [1229] t*e*n ekPL*E*r*o*-sin [1604] t*o*n h*e*-meR*O*N tou
hag-nisMOU [49],

*declaring the fulfillment of the days of :purification,*

HE*o*s hou pro-s*e*NECHth*e* [4374] huPER heNOS heKAstou auT*O*N h*e*pros-phoRA
[4376].

*until the offering was offered for each of them.*



 *NOTE**: *21:19 - See the faithfulness of Paul in glorifying God for what
He had done through him on behalf of the nations. And the result? 21:20 -
James and the elders *all* glorified God!


 21:23-24 - However - they were well aware of the possible turmoil once the
Jewish zealots for law learned of Paul's presence in Jerusalem. James and
the elders therefore had counsel for Paul. He should follow a typical Jewish
purification ceremony for the Temple, and outlined to Paul how they thought
this could spare any uprisings or problems.


 21:26 - Paul accepted this counsel of James and the elders of Jerusalem,
and immediately complied the following day.


 *NOW* - it is important to note the two paragraphs in this section of 12
verses, and the preceding section of Acts 21:1-14, which concludes the
preceding section XVIII of Acts 19:31 to 21:14, composed of *four*paragraphs.


 To understand the crafting of God in this, consider the crafting of some
historical novelists, and the time they spent to thoroughly understand
accurately the historical, political and even scientific backgrounds that
existed in that day for the novel they wished to write. Though these are
novels: yet many of the characters used, and actual historical figures, and
the political and economic situation of those times are thoroughly
understood and made use of. It might take a number of years for the author
to research such a many-faceted background. James Michener in his novel
“Texas”, has done this work. In his book, perhaps but 60-70% is a lifting of
these facts into his production. The rest is true liberty of the author in
contriving a story to gain interest of the readers. In this way he provides
a painless way for readers to gain a good historical understanding of the
history of those times. He weaves into his story the part that Mexican
Hispanics played, African-Americans and the First Nations People, the
Aboriginal Indians of over 500 tribes, plus immigrants from many countries
in Europe.


 When I was a boy between 10 and 14, I read 52 historical novels by G. A.
Henty. “With Clive in India”, and “Ken in the Jungle” were but two. But I
painlessly learned a great deal of world history, along with general history
I learned in school. Later I read “Exodus” by Leon Uris. He carefully
researched the history of his Jewish people from eight different nations,
the antisemitism that drove them back to their original land, and the
terrible persecution of the Holocause that wiped out over 6 million European
Jews through Hitler's Nazism. He traced the breaking of the Balfour
Declaration of 1917 by Great Britain - with Arab oil as the underlying
pressure that caused this reneging of promise. “QB VII” by Uris gives
further insights into those terrible times.


 General Eisenhower uncovered the horror of Hitler's gas chambers in scores
of annihilation camps - mostly for Jews, but also for non-committed Germans,
Gypsies, the feeble-minded, Gays and other types that did not reach the
standard of Hitler for his ideal Nordic race. Eisenhower demanded that
Germans enter these camps, and help bury the dead - that the quick coming of
the Russians, prevented the Nazis from finishing the hiding of their
nefarious work. He asked that full documentation by photographs be made, for
he said - “I know that in the future there will arise Bas..... like Arafat
and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, who will
willfully and ignorantly deny all the proven facts.” Hitler said - “Tell a
lie often enough, and the public and national leaders will eventually
believe it! Arafat was one of the greatest liars of all time. Palestinians *
never* had that land historically. God gave that land to Israel as His land
to them 3400 years ago, and though Islamists have sought to disprove the
historical and archaeological evidence of the Jewish Temple, plus much other
evidence - it *still* is as God says. And the Mein Kampf by Hitler is still
one of the favorite books in this area.


 Fredrick Forsyth in his Historical Novel “The Ode*ss*a File”, weaves true
historical fact into Hitler and Nazism, and the revived Nazi spirit that
still exists today.


 Herman Wouk in his “Winds of War” and “War and Remembrance” makes all true
historical facts eminently true in the face of the lies and subterfuge of
nations of today.


 Am I recommending the reading of historical novels? Not necessarily. What I
see is that these historical novelists mentioned above, plus many more,
carefully crafted their novels, with the majority findings lying behind the
novel part, all reliable, and providing a learning process to learn history
painlessly.


 My main purpose in recounting the above is to say this: What these
novelists have done by research and crafting, is but an earthly attempt at
seeking to help people learn history. Men like Ivan Panin refused to read
any such novels, and had he done so, the Bible Numeric results he produced
in 50 years and 100,000 hours' would never have been produced. But he was
but *God's tool* in the hand of God to uncover what has been in the Bible
for three and four thousand years - but like mineral ore lying beneath the
surface of the earth - only recently discovered. Also - like the oil of
Texas.


 When Panin discovered this hidden spiritual ore in the Bible, and *only* in
the Bible, he started in 1890 to uncover this rich treasure. When he
published the Numeric Greek New Testament in the early 1900's, he was not
then aware that not only did Bible Numerics provide a scientific method of
ascertaining the original Bible text from among the 7 major NT manuscripts
and 1000's of fragments - *but* - too late to incorporate this finding into
this text published by the Oxford Press of England; he did write up in its
introduction some 20-30 pages, that Bible Numerics establishes accurate
contexts for each sentence of the Bible. He of course could not finish the
Old Testament, because he did all his work for the NT prior to computers, by
doing over 43,000 pages of neat columns of hand-written figures - beyond
belief. I have worked his English translation punctuation backwards into his
Greek NT, so that both run parallel in Numeric tested “sentence,
subdivisions, paragraphs, sections (or chapter equivalents) and books. I
have summarized each sentence in each book, gathered the summaries into
subdivisions; the subdivisions into paragraphs and the paragraphs into
sections, and then into books. I am not sure if Panin himself realized what
such summaries of his work would mean to laymen and some scholars in this
realm. It has transformed my life.


 I have spent over 40,000 hours in bringing this together to produce an
Interlinear Greek NT based on Bible Numerics as prepared by Ivan Panin. My
summaries are *not* inspired. The Greek text is, and the English translation
has been strongly affected by the Lexicon Panin first prepared before he
ever commenced producing the Bible Numeric Greek NT. It also helped in
choosing the best English vocabulary to translate this Greek text.

All of this is spelled out in his introduction to the Greek Numeric NT. So -
what historical novelists have done in carefully crafting their novels based
on preliminary research in history and many other sciences - *God* has
crafted His Bible on *Numbers* is such a way, that His heavenly background
to His Bible so far supersedes all carefully man-made historical novels.
that *there is no comparison*.


 Look at Mark 16:9-20 for instance. Textual Critics have either eliminated
this portion from Mark, or else put notes concerning it so disparaging, that
the average reader would want little to do with it. *But* - Bible Numerics
shows that if *any* portion of the Bible should be left out as being suspect
- the last 12 verses of Mark would be the *last* to go. More Numerics are
found here than any other part of the Bible. And, it is *not* just a
paragraph - it is a complete *Section* or Chapter equivalent, giving it an
importance beyond belief. The world and Satan *hate* this portion of
Scripture. It is extremely disruptive to Satan's kingdom when practiced. In
the early church, within less than 100 years the whole Roman Empire was
saturated with the Gospel because of the practice of this portion of
Scripture. *God* confirmed the preaching of the Gospel by the apostles and
all others *With Signs Following*! It was this that made such an impact on
the early church. Read the book of Acts again in this light, and see how
evangelism of those early days was *never* absent from the promise of Mark
16:9-20.


 One last thought. Ivan Panin was not the first discoverer of Bible
Numerics, but the one who made use of it by producing his two Bible Numeric
texts - the Greek and the English New Testaments. He died with the hope of
an Interlinear Greek NT unfulfilled. It is *this* that is close to
completion *this year*, with a printer interested in putting this into book
form. I believe what Panin desired but did not see take place in his day,
was of divine appointment. Because of the great apostasy in the world today,
especially in North America, I believe the timing of this Interlinear Greek
NT, is God's design to offset the falling away, and give into the hands of
believing disciples a tool to ground them individually as never before in
the true faith of God - and then in evangelism - to equip them beyond belief
for the effectiveness that existed in the early church. The *end* is at
hand. *Jesus* is at the door. It is but minutes from the midnight call.


 And that last thought? When Panin prepared his scientific Lexicon from 1890
to 1900, he found that the number of references to the name of Moses showed
“no numerics” in the best of lexicons of his day. He searched the
scriptures, and found a reference to Moses inadvertently omitted by this
great lexicon. But “*Numerics*” showed up this omission and enabled a truly
correct and scientific lexicon to take its place.


 For those of you who are interested but not convinced - please go to our *
Website* *<www.2rbetter.org> - *click on “Interlinear” - and at the bottom
of the Introduction, you will find a “URL” - directing you to an article
from Toronto “How to use Bible Numerics in Evangelism”. Out of some 5 links
in this article, click on the one by “Dr. Keith L. Brooks”. There you will
find a pamphlet he wrote corroborating the authenticity of Bible Numerics -
also one by Karl Sabiers - “Astounding New Discoveries in the Bible.” Both
of Ivan Panin's Greek and English New Testaments are available there also.
As stated above, the Introduction to his Bible Numeric Greek NT is worth its
weight in gold. By all means do some “Web-Surfing”! J.A.W.



 *TODAY* a friend sent me the following article, concerning our nation's
entry into a new type of health care etc. I believe our president would be
interested to know that *no other* book in the world has the Bible Numeric
Phenomenon except the 66 books of our Bible, both in Hebrew and English. The
Koran does *not* have this confirmatory help, nor any other religious holy
book. Only our Bible is God's Plumbline to evaluate all national, political
and religious decisions! Following is the challenging article we received
through a friend:


 *SUBJECT: Maxine sums up new health care bill ... 2010*


 Let me get this straight. We're going to be gifted with a health care plan
written by a committee whose chairman says he *doesn't understand it*, *
passed* by a Congress *that hasn't read* it, but *exempts* themselves from
it; to be signed by a president who also *hasn't read it and who smokes*,
with *funding* administered by a treasure chief who *didn't pay his taxes*,
to be overseen by a surgeon general who is *obese*, and *financed* by a
country that's *broke*.


 *What could possibly go wrong?*





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