“Oh the Things We Say…I am Getting Hungry”

March 29

Read: Acts 23,24

(Focus on 23:12-22, 24:22-27)

“When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. There were more than forty who made this conspiracy.” (23:12,13)

People say some pretty ridiculous things! Think of the brash words and arrangements we tend to “cook up”. This is not some sort of “rarity” … I mean look at this passage: “There were more than forty who made this conspiracy.” 40 PEOPLE. Wow. 40 people decide to hatch a murderous plan and then seal it with an oath to NOT EAT !?! There is a great irony in promising something that would lead to your own death unless you cause the death of someone else.

I wonder what these people did? Look at Acts 24:26-27: “So he sent for him often and conversed with him. When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus. And desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.” So it was more than two years later and Paul was still alive! Did these people not eat for 2 years? They would surely have died if going much more than 40 days… definitely after 2 years. What was it like for them? They had made such a big deal about their plan and oath. “They went to the chief priests and elders and said, ‘We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul.’” (v.22:14) I wonder if they regret having told so many people… having made such a big deal about it. I bet they got pretty hungry and pretty fast. Something tells me that they didn’t keep their oath. I bet they didn’t choose to die from starvation. Let this be a lesson to us: there is no life in committing to the harm of others. There is no glory to be had in bragging about your “commitments”… your “oaths”. Measure your words and avoid impetuous commitments and promises that are greatly out of your control.

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (cf. James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5, Prov. 3:34) God is not asking us to make hasty promises or empty threats… he calls us to let our “yes be yes and our no be no”. (cf. James 5:12) These Jews thought that they were being “spiritual”… they thought they were “pleasing God”. In the end, they were actually opposing the one that God was with! (Paul) They thought they were doing something “right” with this “witch-hunt” of theirs… in the end all they were binging about is their own embarrassment and demise.

Do you find yourself “bargaining” with God? Have you made some “promises” to him that you can’t keep? (You can do nothing of any spiritual value apart from him anyways! cf. John 15:5) Are you trying to bring about Spiritual fruit through fleshly efforts? Flesh gives birth to flesh and Spirit gives birth to spirit. The spiritual will never be brought about by our human / fleshly efforts apart from abiding in Christ. Have you made some brash commitments and promises against someone else that you need to seek forgiveness for? Don’t you realize that those harsh “oaths” will just serve as a thorn in your side… something that will DRAIN you of life… not please the Lord or bring you any joy or fullness. I wonder what those first bites of food tasted like for those 40? What was it like the first time they ate… after realizing that they would not be able to kill Paul? It would be natural to expect they received ridicule… the “walk of shame”… embarrassment. As the people of God, we might expect that as well. Here is GOOD NEWS: Jesus doesn’t hit us with an “I told you so” when we come back to him. He doesn’t ridicule us or parade us around in shame when we have to “eat our words” and return to him. Jesus offers us mercy, love, and forgiveness when we repent! Jesus is the opposite of this situation. He seeks LIFE for us… not death. Have you teamed up with some other people to gang up on a proverbial “Paul”? Have you made some dumb promise that you know you can’t keep and now you are facing the ways it could drain all the life from you? Are you getting “hungry”? What is stopping you from confessing, repenting, turning, or asking for forgiveness? Do you need to give up a “witch-hunt” of sorts? You may actually be opposing the work of God! Love you guys. - JDP