Escaping Jerusalem

While enjoying interacting freely with the believers of the Jerusalem church, Saul also went to the Hellenistic synagogues and spoke boldly in the name of the Lord. “And he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews; but they were attempting to put him to death.” (1) Saul’s theological debates were primarily with the Hellenistic Jews. In fact, this was a continuation of Stephen’s ministry. Stephen had debated with members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen and had defeated them. (2) Like Stephen, Saul also faced the threat of assassination. This was a recurrence of the tragedy from three years earlier and marked the second conspiracy against Saul. “Now when the brothers learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.” (1) The rumor of the conspiracy reached the ears of the believers, so they decided to save Saul. Saul also received a message from the Lord Jesus, prompting him to leave Jerusalem. Acts 22:17-18 states, “It happened when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple… I saw Him saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’” (2) The safest place for Saul was Tarsus. He traveled from Jerusalem to Caesarea and then to Tarsus. Tarsus was the capital of the province of Cilicia and Saul’s hometown. It was a key location for both sea and land trade routes between the East and West. For the next several years (5 to 7 years), Tarsus would become the base for Saul’s ministry activities.

Report of church growth

“So the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed peace, as it was being built up; and as it continued in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it kept increasing.” (1) This is the third report of church growth (Acts 2:47, 6:7, 9:31). There are a total of seven growth reports in the Acts of the Apostles. Here, Galilee is mentioned for the first time. The gospel was literally brought to Judea (including Galilee) and Samaria. (2) The persecution that began with Stephen’s martyrdom came to a pause with Saul’s escape from Jerusalem. As a result, three things happened: (a) The church enjoyed peace. (b) There was fear of the Lord and encouragement from the Holy Spirit. (c) The number of believers increased. Even in our lives, the times of storm will eventually pass and a time of peace and harvest will come. What we need is the patience to continue looking up to the Lord Jesus.