And when they heard it, they glorified God. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law, and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs. What then is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. Do therefore what we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads. Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law.
The fear of man is a snare. Note Solomon’s words, written 900 years prior to the above incident:
The fear of man lays a snare,
but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.
To fully appreciate this section of Acts, we have to remember what has been happening to Paul and his entourage. He has been on his second missionary journey and has encountered both blessing and hardship. He has seen many people believe in Christ and he has been beaten and persecuted in almost every city he preached the Gospel. These men he is reporting to are completely, however, fixated on their own pressures of the Jewish believers who are still hooked on following the Law. It should be noted that Paul will, in this very chapter, be beaten by the Jews. Remember, James and the leaders at Jerusalem were afraid that “these” believing in Christ Jews would attack Paul. Later in this very chapter, Paul is attacked. Paul is attacked by a mob of Jews who reject that he has taken the Gospel to the Gentiles. So, we have to conclude that believing Jews were tormented the Apostle Paul, had him arrested and almost beaten. It is these believing in Christ Jews that start the entire journey of Paul to Rome to death. There is no doubt that the Jewish council of the Jerusalem Synagogue (non-believing Jews) carried out most of the persecution. But, it was believing Jews who started the uproar. However, it is the leadership of the Church at Jerusalem who actually started the entire domino affect. They so feared the believing Jews that they sent Paul on a mission to appease them. Those unbelieving Jews started an uproar that the non-believing Jews made their major mission. All of it ended with Paul in Rome before Caesar. Paul did not fear man. James and the leadership of the Church at Jerusalem did. That is one of the many lessons in this story. The fear of man is a snare.
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