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Acts | 1-8: | 9:1-19 | 9:20-31 | 9:32-43 | 10:1-23 | 10:24-48 | 11 | 12 | 13:1-12 | 13:13-41 | 13:42-52 | 14:1-18 | 14:19-28 | 15:1-21 | 15:22-41 | 16:1-15 | 16:16-40 | 17:1-15 | 17:16-34 |  18:1-17 | 18:18-28 | 19:1-20 | 19:21-41 | 20:1-16 | 20:17-38 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 23:12-35 | 24 | More Coming Soon |

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These small group Bible studies of Acts 23:12-35 contain commentary, discussion questions, and practical application.  Visit our library of inductive Bible studies for more in depth inductive studies on this and other books of the Bible you can use in your small group.

Acts 23:12-35 Bible Study Guide – An Outrageous Vow

Outline

I. The plot to kill Paul (12-22)
II. Paul sent to Felix (23-35)

I. The plot to kill Paul (12-22)

Discussion Questions

• What plot was hatched against Paul?
• What does this passage reveal about the hearts of the religious leaders?
• How could the religious leaders become so hardened that they went along with this plot to kill Paul?
• What does this account teach us about the world we live in? About religion? About the enemy? About ourselves?
• Why did they think they were doing the right thing?
• Have you seen a person doing evil who was convinced it was good?
• Have you ever done something evil that you thought at the time was good?
• How do we properly calibrate our conscience so that we know and do what is right?
• If you make a bad promise, should you keep it?
• Did anyone else in Scripture make a bad oath?
• Should you ever make an oath?
• What can we learn from how Paul’s nephew handled this?

Cross-References

Isaiah 5:20 – Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 – For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.

James 5:12 – But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

Numbers 30:2 – If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1. The plot to kill Paul –

Acts 23:12 – When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.

Aside from the crucifixion of Jesus, perhaps no other event in the entire Bible so thoroughly shows the sinfulness and depravity of the human heart. Paul was on their team. He wholeheartedly agreed with their ideology until Jesus encountered him and he was converted. Then Paul began his mission to proclaim Christ.

They did not seek to find out more information on why he changed. There was no investigation, no questioning, only the desire to silence him.

Here we see the extremes that they would go to. The word used means that they “anathematized” themselves, meaning they willingly took God’s curse upon themselves if they failed in this mission. It was so important to them that they vowed to neither eat nor drink until it was accomplished. Thus, they started a roughly three-day countdown timer before they would die if they didn’t fulfill or break their oath.

They didn’t seek to silence him by debating or proving he was wrong. Rather, they chose the simple method of murder.

Note that this wasn’t a single madman’s idea. Forty people came together in agreement. Can you imagine how that conversation would have started?

“Hey, I want to go and murder someone. You on board?”

“Who do you want to murder?”

“Paul.”

“Sure, let’s do it.”

“Let’s up the stakes a little bit. Let’s vow to never eat or drink again until we murder him.”

“I’m all in.”

It looks insane. But it is worse. It is Satanic.

After they hatched this plot, they then went to the chief priests and elders and told them, seeking their assistance. These “holy” men jumped on the bandwagon, willingly helping by sending a message to the tribune to attempt to expose Paul.

The men charged with spiritually leading the people eagerly agreed to join in with a murder plot. It was not just one or two of them, but the whole group!

To put it in modern times, it would be like the entire pastor/elder team in your church supporting a murder plot hatched by an adult Sunday School class that vows not to eat or drink until the murder is accomplished.

Reflect – What does this account teach us about the world we live in? About religion? About the enemy? About ourselves?

Let us consider several lessons we can learn from this.

A. The human heart is deceitful –

Jeremiah 17:9 – The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

These forty men, plus the priests and elders, convinced themselves that murdering Paul was the righteous thing to do. Think about that. That is the power of sin and self-deceit.

We can convince ourselves of almost anything. We justify and excuse sin.

Instead of saying, “I am being selfish,” we say, “I deserve this.”
While we quickly blame others for their sin, when we sin, we are more likely to say, “That is not who I am” or “You don’t understand.” Sometimes we spiritualize our personal desires, saying “God is leading me” when we just want comfort. When we sin, we often compare ourselves to others and say, “I am not as bad as that guy.”

Our deceitful hearts can also muddy our motivations for doing things. Are we preaching to build up the body or our reputation? Are we giving to help the poor or look good in front of others?

What we need is a heart transplant. The good news is God is willing to give us just that.

Ezekiel 36:26 – And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

The Holy Spirit convicts us so that we recognize the truth and don’t deceive ourselves.

For our part, we need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit by listening to His voice.

Application – Like David, let us pray that God will reveal to us any wrong motivations in our hearts.

Psalms 139:23-24 – Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

Use this prayer to evaluate any ministry you do for the Lord. Ask Him to reveal any wrong motivation in you. Then take that to Him in confession.

B. Many people call good evil and evil good –

The heart of man is wicked. It is this wicked heart that causes people to call good evil, and evil good.

Isaiah 5:20-21 – Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!

It is possible for people to be so deceived that they do the most wicked things imaginable and believe, or at least convince themselves that they believe, that they are doing right. The conscience can become seared and warped.

When people go headlong into sin, they not only do it themselves, but celebrate and promote it.

Romans 1 describes the slippery slope of sin. It finally leads to a depraved mind, where the mind itself is darkened, almost like that of an animal, which just follows its basic instincts. The final step is not only to do these sins “in the closet”, but to do them publicly and enthusiastically and encourage others to do the same.

Romans 1:32 – Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

We see this with “Pride” month. People celebrate all manners of sexual perversion. There are literally parades on the streets.

It is also true of abortion rights. Proponents of child murder wildly celebrate when they win a court victory, making it easier to kill unborn children. They gnash their teeth in anger when their freedom to kill is restricted.

Probably in every period of history, believers thought that their period was the most wicked. But the world today seems to be descending into evil faster than ever before. In the past, many sins were secret. Those who committed them were ashamed, but now these sins are committed in broad daylight. Those who do them are applauded, given special protections and privileges, and highlighted as exemplary models; then their sins are promoted, and those who disagree with these sins are vilified.

“First, we overlook evil. Then we permit evil. Then we legalize evil. Then we promote evil. Then we celebrate evil. Then we persecute those who still call it evil.” – Dwight Longnecker

Application – Do not join the world to call good evil and evil good. Stand up for what is right. Stand up for the truth, and teach your children the same thing. Here is one way to do this. Choose one current event or current trend in society each week, and have a discussion with your family about how to view this in light of Scripture. Your children will likely face an even more twisted world than you, so prepare them!

Reflect – Have you seen a person doing evil who was convinced it was good? Have you ever done something evil that you thought at the time was good?

C. We are fighting a spiritual battle. Wage war appropriately –

The actions of these men do not make sense humanly speaking. There is something more at play than meets the eye. Likely unbeknownst to them, they were pawns of Satan. He was using them to wage war against God. We are often not fighting against logic. It is blind wickedness. What else would make people who see every evidence of God gnash their teeth in hate and kill themselves instead of repenting (Revelation 9:6,20-21)?

This passage reveals that we are in a spiritual war.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 – For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.
At the moment of salvation, every believer enters a new battlefield. He has new enemies, Satan and his legions of demons. And he has a new advocate, Jesus Christ. He is a new person, sealed by the Holy Spirit.

Paul’s description of the Christian life as “war” is important.

Reflect: What does the word “war” imply about the Christian walk?

A war is a serious thing. In a war, there are extremely high stakes. To lose means death. One has to be constantly alert for attacks from the enemy, including frontal assaults, sabotage missions, traps, and even propaganda. The soldier has to train, readying his body and mind for battle. And a soldier must fight. The choices are fight or lose.

That is what the Christian enters into when he comes to the Lord. There is no middle ground. The enemy will not show quarter.
The believer must not give ground or retreat. Instead, he “wages war.”

Application: You are in a battle. Are you trying to be a spectator or are you waging war? What is one specific thing you can do to be a better warrior?

We cannot win this war according to the flesh.

To fight successfully against a superior adversary, we need some help. And God gives that help to us. He is by our side, supporting and sustaining us. The first step in a successful battle plan is to come to God and say, “I need help. I can’t win by myself. I am weak and I need you.”

We are to destroy arguments and opinions that set themselves up against God. The men who hatched this plot did not do this. They allowed themselves to be swept away by Satan’s propaganda. They lost the battle in their minds and were blinded.

The mind is the key location of this battle.

Nations understand this battle. Throughout history, governments have harnessed the power of propaganda. If they can win the minds of their citizens, they can control them. Extreme examples of this include Japanese pilots in WWII who became kamikazes and sacrificed themselves in service to the emperor. Many others killed themselves rather than be captured, since they were convinced through propaganda that this was the honorable thing to do.

Satan understands this as well. He tries to control the minds of the masses through his own propaganda machine. In the Garden of Eden, he first launched his attacks, asking Eve, “Did God really say?” and “You will not surely die.” He won over her mind. And then rebellion against God followed.

Reflect – What methods does the enemy use to influence people’s minds? What are some arguments and “lofty opinions” that set themselves up against the knowledge of God?

Here are a few examples of mainstream arguments that set themselves against God:

• Evolution
• Hedonism
• Live and let live
• Universalism
• All religions are good as long as you are sincere
• God is harsh and capricious
• Look out for number one
• You are a self-made man
• Traditional family values are outdated
• People are basically good

These are only a few out of the many heinous belief systems that reverberate around the globe. So what is our role when we face these arguments?

We are warriors in His army. That means we have to fight these ideas while praying for people’s souls to be set free from their grip. Using the truth of God’s Word, we face these ideas and defeat them. Just like Jesus responded to Satan by quoting Scripture, so we can use Scripture to destroy these lies.

Our own minds are battleground number one. You need to make sure that you don’t allow Satan’s deceptions to gain a foothold there. The next battlegrounds are our families and churches. Then our circle of friends. And beyond that, the whole world.

D. Do not make rash vows –

Forty men agreed to make this vow! Perhaps some were pressured into it, or did it just to go along with the flow. If they had kept their vow, they would have all been dead within a week. I seriously doubt they actually kept their oath, thus compounding their sin.

Reflect – Once they made their oath, if they regretted it, should they still keep it? If you make a bad promise, should you keep it?

Proverbs 20:25 – It is a snare to say rashly, “It is holy,” and to reflect only after making vows.

Application – Do not make rash promises. Do not sign contracts without reading them. Do not make important decisions because of pressure put on you. Take the time to think, pray, and ask counsel first. Many disasters can be avoided by slowing down before making a promise.

Reflect – Have you ever made a promise that you regretted?

2. A wise response by Paul’s nephew –

Acts 23:16 – Now the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul.

This story could have ended badly if Paul’s nephew had reacted differently.

Reflect – How might he have reacted poorly to this news?

A bad idea would have been to rush in and confront the schemers. Doing so likely would have cost him his life and Paul’s, too. He did the right thing to take this information to Paul and then follow his wise advice. The result was that the tribune listened, the plot was exposed, and Paul’s life was saved.

Application – Don’t be hasty. When you don’t know what to do, go ask a spiritually mature elder in your church and listen to his advice.

3. God is sovereign –

God is sovereign in all situations, including this. He used Paul’s nephew to save his life and prolong Paul’s Christian witness.

Through one way or another, the plans of the enemy are sure to fail. God used both Paul’s nephew (likely a believer) and this pagan soldier, the tribune, to save Paul. God and His plans will not be thwarted.

Isaiah 14:27 – For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back?

II. Paul sent to Felix (23-35)

Discussion Questions

• How did God use even an unbeliever to accomplish His purposes?
• How have you seen God using unbelievers to accomplish His purposes today?
• How does the tribune portray himself?
• Is his description of the events accurate?

Verse by Verse Commentary

1. God uses unbelievers to accomplish His purposes –

God used the tribune and protect Paul’s life and start him on his long journey to Rome, where Paul had to witness for Christ.

God does not only use believers. He uses unbelievers, too.

Cyrus (Isaiah 45:1-5) and Nebuchadnezzar (Jeremiah 25:9) are examples of God using even pagan kings to fulfill His plans for His people.

Proverbs 21:1 – The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.

Application – Do not be too discouraged if your country’s political leaders do not follow the Lord. By all means, pray for them. But be careful not to complain or allow bitterness to rule in your heart. God establishes governments, good and bad, to carry out His purpose in the world. He can make just as much use of an evil king as a good king. Throughout history, we see that persecution often sparks great growth in the church.

Be observant and prayerfully consider how God is using unbelievers in high positions, even today. Doing so can increase your faith and also help you live a joyful, peaceful life knowing that God is in control.

2. Lysias paints himself in a positive light –

It is the nature of our deceitful hearts to spin things to paint ourselves in the best possible light. Lysias is no exception.

He comes across as the hero in his own version of the account (27-30) while overlooking the fact that he did not find out Paul was Roman, ordered him scourged, and assumed he was an Egyptian assassin. Perhaps he even believed that he was the hero of the story.

Reflect – Do you have this same tendency to paint yourself in a positive light? Why? How can we get past this need to pretend to be better than what we are?

3. Paul guarded in Herod’s praetorium –

Felix had Paul imprisoned and thus began a long two years of trial after trial that would eventually result in Paul being sent to Rome.