“Curses; Foiled Again” – Acts 23:11-35

Some of my earliest memories of television, when I was about ten-years-old, involve the old cartoons.

Do you remember how so many of them incorporated classical music?

For example, one of them had a number of little cartoon men building a sky-scraper to the music of Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody.”

And I can picture Dudley Do Right rescuing a damsel who had been tied to the railroad tracks by Snidely Whiplash, and the evil man with the long mustache screaming, “Curses; Foiled again.”

“Foiled again!”

In my tormented mind, one thing often leads to other thing and then to another.

To “foil” something is to prevent whatever it is from being successful.

But “foil” is also a noun – it is one of the weapons used in the sport of fencing.

Fencing is not one of the Olympic sports which gets the prime time coverage, but it is fascinating.

Two people, completely covered in layers and layers of protection, duel with swords attached to electronic sensing equipment.

There are various kinds of swords involved, sometimes called “foils” or “epees” or “rapiers.”

The sport is very fast moving and often very exciting.

For some reason as I was reading this passage here in Acts 23, the words “foiled again” came to my mind.

And for an outline, I’d like to use three fencing terms.

This evening, let’s just take a quick look at the rest of the chapter.

First, there was the Jewish THRUST.

The day following Paul’s “apologia” – his defense before the Sanhedrin, a group of forty to fifty men plotted to kill him.

As I have said before, maybe you have an easier time understanding this than I do, but I really hope that you don’t:

I cannot understand the kind of hatred that would drive these men to plan to kill someone man for simply believing in something that they didn’t believe.

I think that I’ll spend Sunday morning on the subject of this hatred, and I ask that you pray that the Lord help me to understand.

Were these four dozen men Sadducees? We aren’t told anything except that they were Jews.

What was it about Paul that they hated?

Was it that he was a Pharisee and believed in the resurrection?

Or was it that he believed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God?

It doesn’t seem that he was a direct threat to anyone’s position on the council.

Why did these four dozen men hate Paul enough to risk their lives to kill him?

The scripture says that they bound themselves under a curse.

In the Greek, verse 12 says that they “anathematized themselves under an anathema” that they would not eat until they had killed Paul.

What kind of hatred would motivate a person to starve himself until a murder was committed?

Think about the nature of not eating:

What is the term that describes the act of not eating? “Fasting.”

And in the Word of God, what word is usually associated with “fasting”?

Rather than “fasting and prayer,” these wicked men were associating “fasting and murder.”

This is diabolical; this is Satanic hatred.

And they took their hatred, their curse and their plot to the chief priests and elders.

They clearly outlined that they planned to kill Paul, and that they had placed themselves under a curse.

Apparently they had made a vow before God.

And literally, in two ways, they had devoted themselves to destruction.

When the Old Testament was translated into Greek, the Septuagint used the Greek word “anathema” for the Hebrew words “devoted” and “dedicated.”

This is a confusing blending of the Hebrew ideas of devotion, sacrifice, and cursing

Without getting into them this evening, let’s just say that these men had “devoted” themselves.

They placed themselves under the curse of death if they didn’t bring about the death of Paul.

There was a double dedication to destruction – either themselves or Paul.

Verse 15 appears to me to be extremely audacious.

It’s worded in such a way that these men were telling the Sanhedrin what to do – almost ordering them.

“Now therefore ye with the council signify to the chief captain that he bring him down unto you to morrow, as though ye would enquire something more perfectly concerning him: and we, or ever he come near, are ready to kill him.”

Is this coming across to me a little differently than it was actually presented?

It also makes me wonder if the Pharisees were as much involved as the Sadducees.

As we know both sects were a part of the council.

Were these forty men just talking to the chief priests, advising them to use the council to flush Paul into the open without the Pharisees knowing that they were being used?

Jumping ahead, we know that this thrust against the life of Paul was foiled.

But the curse was that they would not eat until he was dead.

Did that mean that these men were forced by the curse to starve themselves to death? Don’t be silly.

There were always ways to get around such things.

Perhaps these men placed a time limit on the curse – in their own minds if nowhere else:

“Ask to have Paul brought back to the council chamber tomorrow, and we’ll kill him on the way.

But if Claudius refuses to bring him tomorrow, then our curse is cancelled.”

Since the first part of the plan wasn’t accomplished, these men might have said the curse became void.

But then the commentator Lightfoot came up with a quote from the Jewish Talmud:

“He that hath made a vow not to eat anything, woe to him if he eat, & woe to him if he do not eat.

If he eat he sinneth against his vow; if he do not eat he sinneth against his life.

What must such a man do in this case?

Let him go to the wise men, and they will loose his vow.”

In other words, there was always a way out of these things, if someone really wanted to get out.

The Jews made their lunge, their thrust against the life of Paul.

But it was easily PARRIED.

That is, it was easily blocked by the power of the Lord.

God put Paul’s nephew in the right spot to hear about the plot.

Who this young man was; how old he was; what he was doing there, are all mysteries.

We are told that this son of Paul’s sister was a “young man,” but how young?

I don’t know about you, but the scripture suggests to me that he was a very young man – a pre-teen.

“Then the chief captain took him by the hand, and went with him aside privately, and asked him,

What is that thou hast to tell me?”

What would you think if I took Bro. Asmundson’s hand and led him into the back room?

I don’t think I’d even do that with Seth or Caleb.

I’d simply say, “Come back here so that we can talk in private.”

But I might take the hand of Jonah or Micah or even someone up to the age of Rachel.

It seems that Paul’s sister’s son was quite young, but we can’t be sure exactly how young.

And then, if these conspirators knew that this young man was related to Paul, do you think that they would have spoken so openly before him?

The Lord put this young man in the right spot at the right time to hear the discussion.

God is in absolute control over all earthly events;

He can veto, control, modify, enhance or in other ways manipulate any human equation.

In the case of Elisha and his young servant,

the Lord revealed that they had an army of angels surrounding them, protecting them from the Syrians.

But in the case of Paul, the Lord used a young man to surround and protect him from the Sanhedrin.

If this wasn’t so serious, it would be humorous.

It is certainly enjoyable to the heart of the child of God.

By the grace of God this young man learned of the wicked plot, and he brought the news to Paul.

Was it family love which drove him to tell Paul?

Was Paul’s sister also in Jerusalem, and did this young man receive her permission to talk to their wayward relative?

Or was this boy a student in the city, just as Paul had been years before?

Could it be that this young man was in agreement with Paul and that’s why he cared about the plot?

Could it be that he was also a believer in Christ Jesus?

If I had to guess, I’d say that he was not a believer, because he is never mentioned again, but that doesn’t prove anything.

When Claudius Lysias heard what the young man had to say, the wheels started spinning very quickly.

But the hand of God was involved even in that.

The gears were engaged and the wheel was not spinning uselessly.

Put yourselves into the Chief Captain’s shoes,

listening to a story of murder from the lips of a young man whom he had never met before.

What is the likelihood of believing him, and reacting so quickly?

Did Claudius know that this young man was the nephew of Paul?

If he did, then wouldn’t he have been even more reluctant to commit his troops to this fools errand?

And the boy came to him directly from the cell of Paul, shouldn’t that have made him wonder if this wasn’t just some sort of scheme to get Paul released?

It was the Lord who put it into Claudius’ heart overlook these things and to rush Paul to Caesarea.

Once again we see that the King’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; He turns it whithersoever He wills.

The third word that I would like to use this evening is “DISPLACEMENT.”

The French call it “esquive,” when in fencing the target is moved in order to avoid an attack.

Claudius quickly summoned two of his centurions.

In the Roman army, generally speaking, a centurion was the leader of a hundred soldiers.

In this case two centurions were ordered to prepare their troops, along with seventy horsemen, for a quick night-trip to Caesarea.

And in the process, Paul was to be treated as more than just a prisoner; He was given a horse as well.

Then Claudius sat down and prepared a letter of explanation.

I think that this letter contains subtle proof of the inspiration of these scriptures.

This letter is embellished and colored in just the way that a politically-minded military man might do it to impress his superiors.

“Claudius Lysias unto the most excellent governor Felix sendeth greeting.

This man was taken of the Jews, and should have been killed of them: then came I with an army, and rescued him, having understood that he was a Roman.

And when I would have known the cause wherefore they accused him, I brought him forth into their council:

Whom I perceived to be accused of questions of their law, but to have nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or of bonds.

And when it was told me how that the Jews laid wait for the man, I sent straightway to thee, and gave commandment to his accusers also to say before thee what they had against him. Farewell.”

In other words, “When I knew that this man was a Roman, I rescued him from the murderous Jews.

And when I realized that his problems were religious and that he wasn’t guilty of capital crimes,

I knew that I needed to save his life by sending him to you.

I have also ordered members of the Sanhedrin to come and present their case against him before you.”

When Paul and the soldiers finished the 40 mile trip to Caesarea, he was presented to the Governor Felix.

By the grace of God Paul was delivered from the Sanhedrin, delivered from the conspirators and placed under the protective hand of the Roman Governor of Judea.

Some time will elapse, but eventually he will even be carried to Rome probably at government expense.

All according to the plan of God.

Once again, we see that God maketh even the wrath of man to glorify him.