Acts 22:18 - Printer Friendly

ESV: and saw him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’

NIV: and saw the Lord speaking to me. ‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Leave Jerusalem immediately, because the people here will not accept your testimony about me.’

NASB: and I saw Him saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’

CSB: and saw him telling me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’

NLT: I saw a vision of Jesus saying to me, ‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem, for the people here won’t accept your testimony about me.’

KJV: And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.

NKJV: and saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning Me.’

Paul is explaining to a mob of Jews in Jerusalem who want him dead that, years before, Jesus had told him to leave Jerusalem because some Jews wanted him dead.

In the previous event, Paul had gone to Damascus to arrest and imprison Jewish Jesus-followers, but met Jesus on the way and later returned to Jerusalem a Christian himself (Acts 9:3–19). In this event, Paul has returned to Jerusalem with several Gentile believers. Some of the Jews who recognize one of the Gentiles saw Paul and his friend in Jerusalem together in the city (Acts 21:29).

In the previous event, Paul preached about Jesus so aggressively that devout Jews tried to kill him (Acts 9:29). In this event, the devout Jews who saw Paul with his friend later saw Paul in the temple and assumed he had desecrated God's house by bringing the Gentile man with him, so they try to kill him (Acts 21:27–28, 31).

In the previous event, the apostles realized Paul was in danger and sent him home to Tarsus and Jesus agreed with their decision (Acts 9:30). In this event, the Holy Spirit has already told Paul he will be arrested (Acts 20:22–23). He will spend the next five years under house arrest.

The Jews' rejection of their Messiah breaks Paul's heart. He has a passion for the Jews (Romans 9:3–5; 10:1) and all the bona fides to reach them (Acts 22:3–4; Philippians 3:4–6). In the previous event, God may have let Paul see the opposition to his teaching in Jerusalem to convince him he needed to go to the Gentiles, which He had told him when he accepted Christ (Acts 26:17–18). In this event, he will be sent to Caesarea Maritima in two days (Acts 23:31–33). There is no record that Paul ever returns to Jerusalem again. As the mob dragged him from the temple and shut the gates (Acts 21:30), so, apparently, God keeps him from the city of the Jews.

Acts 22:17–22 comes after a mob has accused Paul of bringing a Gentile into the temple. He did not, but he has traveled to Jerusalem with them. He's trying to explain how years ago, Jesus met Paul on the road to Damascus and not only saved him but selected him. Paul's new role was to bring that same message of forgiveness to the Gentiles, including the man seen with Paul in the city. The crowd rejects Paul's explanation, the Romans arrest him, and he stays under house arrest for five years. Paul's conversion experience is described in Acts 9:1–19 and he repeats his story in Acts 26:12–18.

In Acts 22, a young Roman military officer realizes he cannot control Jews who do not wish to be controlled. He has just rescued Paul from a crowd that largely doesn't know why they want to kill Paul. In hopes of gathering information, the tribune allows Paul to speak to the crowd. The crowd listens only briefly, then explodes again. The tribune tries flogging but is foiled by Paul's Roman citizenship. Finally, the tribune schedules a meeting with the Sanhedrin. It does not go well (Acts 23:1–10).

Paul came to Jerusalem to tell the church of his ministry's success with Gentiles. The leaders are more worried about a rumor that Paul no longer respects the Jewish law. Paul agrees to perform a very Jewish ritual, but in the process is falsely accused of bringing a Gentile into the temple. A mob assaults him, and the Roman tribune arrests him (Acts 21:17–36). The tribune tries to uncover the truth by letting Paul speak to the crowd, then almost flogging him (Acts 21:37—22). Next, he will bring Paul to the Sanhedrin, to no avail (Acts 23:1–10).

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.