Tag: Mobing - Acts 17-18

Acts 17:5-8

But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things.

Tag: Mob Mindedness is a Storied Tradition

Before looking at the above passage, which occurred in Thessalonica, we should look at what happen after this event when Paul left Thessalonica and went to a town called Berea:

Acts 17:13

But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds.

Today we live in a very volatile society.   Whereas the 60s had campus uprisings to dispute the Viet Nan war, today we have crowds build over police conduct, political posturing and/or general dissonance about anything one “side” disagrees with the other “side.”   In Paul’s day, the art of stirring up the crowd was also used.    In Moses day, we also see the crowd mentality during his leadership:

Numbers 16:1-2

Now Korah the son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, and On the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men. And they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men.

Satan uses the art of disruption to cause the world to live in chaos.   God is the God of peace and not disorder:

1 Corinthians 14:33

For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

As in all the churches of the saints,

If we want to defeat Satan in our quest to spread the Gospel we are going to have to be aware of Satan’s methods:

2 Corinthians 2:11

so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.

God wants us to spread the Gospel and Satan will use disorder and chaos via mobs and hatred to prevent the message from being spoken.   We must make sure we do not focus on the mob and the people in the mob.  This is a spiritual battle. 

Ephesians 6:12

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.