The unused room

Philemon 22-25 - And one thing more: Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers.

Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

I wonder how long Philemon kept the guest room ready for Paul. I don't think Paul ever had a chance to use it. He and Epaphras were prisoners (probably in Rome). As far as I know, Paul never left Rome as a free man.

Onesimus

Philemon 1-21 - Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,

To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker, to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier and to the church that meets in your home:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers, because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints. I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.

Therefore, although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I appeal to you on the basis of love. I then, as Paul—an old man and now also a prisoner of Christ Jesus—I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, who became my son while I was in chains. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.

I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you. I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous and not forced. Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good—no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother. He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother in the Lord.

So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self. I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.

I wonder how things turned out for Onesimus. Very well, I should think.

I also wonder how many people were in the church that met at Archippus' house. The bigger the house, the more that could meet there, I suppose. But wherever 2 or 3 are gathered in Jesus' name, that is enough to call it a church. It's his body, the communion of saints.

Paul's own hand - Part 2

2 Thessalonians 3:17 - I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand, which is the distinguishing mark in all my letters. This is how I write.

Here is the explanation to why Paul wrote as he did at the end of Galatians (and elsewhere). It was simply his signature.

I wonder how many letters he wrote that have not been passed down to us. We can be certain that every letter that we need, we have. God has seen to that.

Epaphroditus

Philippians 2:25-30 - But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety. Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like him, because he almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for the help you could not give me.

I wonder what almost killed Epaphroditus. Did he stay outside in the cold too long and catch pneumonia? (How cold does it get where Paul was? Was he in Rome?) Did Epaphroditus go into a remote area and get bitten by some critter or poisoned by some plant that made him very ill? Did he have some more common ailment like a cold that he just didn't take care of properly letting it nearly cost him his life?

Was he over-devoting (if that's even possible) himself to the spreading of the gospel, so much so that he neglected his health? Or does Paul simply mean to say that the illness came to him in the normal course of his service to the Lord?

Paul's own hand

Galatians 6:11 - See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!

I wonder why Paul decided to write part of this letter with his own hand. Did he want to prove he was actually present dictating the rest of it to his scribe? Would there be any doubt about that in the Galatians' minds?

Had his scribe stepped out of the room for a break leaving Paul with nothing better to do? Did Paul write more than this one sentence in his own hand? Did he finish the letter himself?

Why did he use large letters? (Some think he may have had poor eyesight.) Was it just to distinguish his writing from that of his scribe? What made him think to write those particular words; that is, that particular self-referential sentence? Was he trying to be humorous?

Did later scribes copy Paul's handwriting in large letters to help preserve the difference and meaning? Do any handwritten copies in existence today (We don't have the originals.) have larger print for this verse?

Did Paul have neat penmanship?

The brothers who shall not be named

2 Corinthians 8:16-22 - I thank God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you. For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative. And we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel. What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help. We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men.

In addition, we are sending with them our brother who has often proved to us in many ways that he is zealous, and now even more so because of his great confidence in you.

I wonder why Paul doesn't hesitate to mention Titus by name but seems to go out of his way not to mention two other brothers. Was it for their protection? Was it to keep the Corinthians in suspense as part of a surprise? Paul sometimes used a secretary to do his letter-writing for him. Did he not want that man to know the identity of the two brothers? Was someone else listening, as he dictated to the scribe, who wasn't supposed to know who was being sent to Corinth? Was it one or both of those brothers?

Generous to a fault

2 Corinthians 8:1-3 - And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability.

I wonder what the "severe trial" was. Was it the poverty itself that they were subjected to? Was it something economic that caused the poverty? A natural disaster? Poor investments? A sharp decline in (the equivalent of) their stock market?

If they were already facing "extreme poverty," how could they give "beyond their ability"? Amazing how the Spirit can move someone no matter what their status or station in life!

Going out for supper?

1 Corinthians 8:9-13 - Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.

Why would a Christian eat in an idol's temple? Was it just like going to a fancy restaurant? I imagine they did have good food there. After all, whoever brought the sacrifice probably gave the best they had in order to appease the god.

The Duck-billed Platypus

The female duck-billed platypus does not nurse its young with nipples.

Think about it.

Priscilla and Aquila in Rome?

Romans 16:3-5 - Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. Greet also the church that meets at their house.

When we last heard of Priscilla and Aquila, they had traveled with Paul from Corinth to Ephesus and had apparently taken up residence there. Now it sounds like they might be living in Rome. If so, they were quite the travelers like Paul.

I wonder how big their house was. How big was the church (i.e. the congregation) that met there? How often did they meet?

Who finds the money?

Acts 28:30-31 - For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.

I wonder who paid the rent. For that matter, how did Paul get anything he needed to live? Did the Roman government handle it all, since Paul was under arrest? If so, then why does it say he was renting? Did Paul have to take up tent-making again to earn wages to pay the rent? Did the Christians support him in return for his preaching to them?

Felix

Acts 24:24-25 - Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, "That's enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you."

I wonder what Felix was afraid of. I could guess that he was afraid of what Paul either already had discussed or was about to speak about -- something that made Felix realize his sin and the consequences of that sin, if he did not repent of it and change his ways.

I wonder if Paul knew something in particular about Felix that Felix didn't want others to hear, and so Felix stopped Paul's sermon just before he got to that part.

Paul, the Egyptian?

Acts 21:37-38 - As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, "May I say something to you?"

"Do you speak Greek?" he replied. "Aren't you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the desert some time ago?"

Well, no, Paul wasn't that Egyptian. I wonder what made the commander think he was. Did he look Egyptian, as opposed to Jewish?

I wonder if we know from history who that Egyptian really was.

So terrorism is nothing new. I wonder what that Egyptian was planning to do with 4000 terrorists in the desert. I'm guessing that, whatever they had in mind, they didn't succeed, or we probably would have heard more about it even in the Bible -- assuming it would have had some effect on Jesus or his followers.

A place to stay

Acts 21:1-8 - After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Cos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara. We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail. After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo. Finding the disciples there, we stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. But when our time was up, we left and continued on our way. All the disciples and their wives and children accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray. After saying good-by to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.

We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for a day. Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven.

I wonder how the travelers knew where the other Christians in each city lived. How easy was it to find them? Could you just ask anyone in the street? Did you get any information at the synagogue? (Assuming there was one and that you could find it.) Did you check with the visitor's bureau? Even if these were smallish cities, it doesn't seem like that easy of a task.

The plot

Acts 20:1-3 - When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples and, after encouraging them, said good-by and set out for Macedonia. He traveled through that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the people, and finally arrived in Greece, where he stayed three months. Because the Jews made a plot against him just as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia.

What was the plot against Paul? Was it to kill him? Was it to imprison him? Was it to deport him? Was it supposed to be an ambush?

How many Jews were in on the plot? How did Paul, or his associates, find out about it? This has the feeling of a Tom Clancy novel about it. How did Paul's change of plans and direction foil the plot?

Obviously God had more work for Paul in Macedonia that was of a higher priority at the time than any work that might have been found in Syria just then.

Artemis

Acts 19:23-41 - About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in no little business for the craftsmen. He called them together, along with the workmen in related trades, and said: "Men, you know we receive a good income from this business. And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all. There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited, and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty."

When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's traveling companions from Macedonia, and rushed as one man into the theater. Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater.

The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there. The Jews pushed Alexander to the front, and some of the crowd shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people. But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"

The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: "Men of Ephesus, doesn't all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to be quiet and not do anything rash. You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess. If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges. If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly. As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of today's events. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it." After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.

The whole city was in an uproar.
A large number of people (How many?) shouted for about 2 hours.
They were in danger of being charged with rioting.

So where were the police?

50,000 drachmas

Acts 19:17-19 - When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.

First, an addendum to yesterday's post. Priscilla and Aquilla are still living in Ephesus when Apollos visits them at their home. It would seem that they settled down there for a while.

I wonder why they (other Ephesians) calculated the value of the stuff they were throwing into a fire. Was it for a tax write-off? Was it just because, as the scrolls kept coming in, someone realized that this was going to be a lot of valuable stuff (money-wise) and decided to see just how much it was worth out of curiosity?

Note that a drachma was about a day's wages. That means that the given value of the trash was about the same as 1 man's wages for 137 years. Or 10 men's wages for almost 14 years.

The point is that the things they once considered valuable now meant nothing and could be tossed into the flames.

I'm curious. Could you please tell me what brought you to this page by mentioning it in a comment? I won't publish the comment, if you ask me not to.

Paul, Priscilla, and Aquila

Acts 18:18-19 - Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchrea because of a vow he had taken. They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.

I wonder what Paul's vow was. What kind of solemn promise would you make that ends, "...I will cut off my hair."? I could speculate, but it's probably best not to.

I wonder if Priscilla and Aquila had a family. It seems that they didn't, since no children are mentioned and since they can apparently pick up shop and leave home quite easily. I wonder how long they stayed in Ephesus. Did they settle there permanently? Did they go back home to Corinth? Was Corinth even their original home?

They were tent makers. Was it easy to set up shop in a new town and start earning a living right away? Or did they have to find employment elsewhere for a time? Or was this just a vacation?

Shall we gather at the river?

Acts 16:13 - On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.

Perhaps my history education is just lacking, but I wonder why they expected to find a place of prayer down by the riverside. Was that a common place in many locales to pray? Or had they just heard something in town (Philippi) that led them to believe they'd find prayerful folk on the waterfront?

Why would people choose the river's edge as a place for prayer? If it was the only water source in the area, nearly everyone would need to go there daily. If not, then why?

Shaking off the dust

Acts 13:49-51 - The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. But the Jews incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.

I wonder what kinds of things the unbelieving Jews told the prominent people of the city that caused the expulsion of Paul and Barnabas. I wonder if it's the same types of complaints, slanders, lies, and other arguments that are used today when and wherever the Gospel is opposed. There's nothing new under the sun, you know.