Shabbat Shalom. We will turn today to the Book of Acts, and we will go ahead and begin with reading the following verses. The verses that we have dealt with last Shabbat meeting was in chapter 9, verses 1 to 19. I would like today to continue from verse 20 of Acts 9 and read into verse 31. Amazing to see how Shaul has come to know Yeshua, the Messiah, with this, what we call it, the Damascus Road experience. And he has experienced something unique. When Yeshua said to him, Shaul, Shaul, why persecute thou me? And the Lord spoke to him from glory, from heaven. And then he said to him, I am Yeshua, whom you are persecuting.

And so Shaul responded to him, if you remember, and he said to him, Lord, what will you have me to do? And Yeshua gave him instruction, and told him what to do, to go to Damascus, and there to await for a person by the name of Hananiah, who was going to come and lay his hands on him, give him his sight, that Shaul will continue on to serve his master, the Lord whom he first persecuted. And so we read in verse 20 of chapter 9 of Acts, and straightway, he, this is Shaul, preached the Messiah in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. But all that heard him were amazed, and said, Is not this he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came he there for the intent that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?

But Shaul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt in Damascus, proving that this is the very Mashiach. And after that many days were fulfilled the Jews to counsel to kill him. But their laying away, it was known of Shaul, and they watched the gates day and night to kill him. Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket. And when Shaul was coming to Jerusalem, and when Shaul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the disciples, but they were all afraid of him. And believed not that he was a disciple.

But Bar-Nabba took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Yeshua. And he was with them, coming in, and going out at Jerusalem, and he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Yeshua, and disputed against the Grecians. But they went about to slay him, which when the brethren knew, they brought him down to Caesarea, and sent him forth to Tarsus. Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea, and Galilee, and Samaria, and were edified, and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, were multiplied.

That is the end of the text for today. And here in this text is the last portion in that section of the book of Acts, where we have Shaul mentioned, because for a while from here on, the Spirit of God is shifting from the service of Shaul, Saul, Paul, to the service of Petros, Peter, Shimon, Petros. But here we can see, brothers and sisters, that immediately after Shaul had accepted Yeshua the Messiah, he received his sight in a unique way. When Hananiah came to him, and he laid his hand on him, and he received his sight. And you remember what Yeshua said to Hananiah, who was afraid to come to even speak to Shaul, because he heard about Shaul, how he came from the city of Jerusalem.

And how he came for the purpose of taking the Hebrew believers from Damascus, bringing them to Jerusalem, and causing them to be afflicted. And ultimately, many sought to kill when he came to Damascus. And so Hananiah needed to hear a word from the Lord, from the glorified Messiah, who said to him in verse 15 of chapter 9: "Go your way, for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and the kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him what great things he must suffer for my name's sake." Can you imagine, brothers and sisters, here is the man that brought letters from Jerusalem to Damascus, in order to take those Jewish believers who were still mingling in the synagogue there in Damascus, to bring them to Jerusalem, to cause them affliction.

Here he is on the way to Damascus, and he saw that great vision. He had this experience. He met Yeshua, the Messiah, on the road to Damascus. And he got gloriously saved. There was a change in his life. Instead now of persecution of the Jewish believers, the Hebrew Christians, now he ended up to take side with them. He changed camps. He moved, he shifted from those who oppose the Messiah followers, to those who continue in following Yeshua, the Messiah. And what happened here, is the last verses we spoke about, verse 18 and 19, he received his sight. He was baptized, we talked about it last time, identified with the rejection of the Messiah in verse 18.

He ate food and mingled with the disciples, and he was with them. He had fellowship with the believers in Damascus. Right now, there was a great change in the life of Shaul, of Tarsus. Now, I want to mention one thing. Many times when we are talking about Shaul, people, at least they said it to me. It says, "Brother Gideon, you see, Shaul, as long as he was Jewish, his name was Shaul. When he became a Christian, his name was changed to Paul." Let me say that this is not what the Bible teaches us. Shaul was always Shaul and Paul at the same time, because every Hebrew individual who lives outside of the land of Israel have more than one name.

He has his Hebraic name, and he also has what is known to be the diaspora, the name that is not the Hebrew, the non-Hebrew name. And Shaul had two names. His name was Shaul, his Hebrew name, and he also was called Paul. And how do I know that he was having those two names all along? Because notice that, if you just turn the page to chapter 13 for a moment, in Acts chapter 13, look what the scripture says very clearly in verse 9 of Acts chapter 13. It says, "When Saul, who also is called Paul, was filled with the Holy Spirit, He set his eyes on him." Notice, the Bible gives us very clearly that his name was called Shaul, this is his Hebrew name, but he was also called Paul.

Now as long that he was in affiliation and in connection with his Hebrew brethren, the name Shaul was prominent. When he was beginning now to minister to the Gentile world with the ministry in the Gospel, all the time in the epistle, his name, Paul, is being used. But let us not misunderstand that he was a Jew, and his name was Shaul, and he became a Christian, and his name became Paul. This is not what the Bible teach. And when he became a believer in Yeshua, the Messiah, and he was reaching out for the Gentile world with the Gospel, he was often time, if not all the time, used the name Paulos, Paul, Paul.

And therefore, here you can see that his name, even after his conversion, after he became a believer in Yeshua, the book of Acts still call him Shaul. Look, now, we are moving on to the next verses, and you will see more than once that his name, Shaul, is mentioned as he is now, the starting of his service, the Messiah among his own Jewish brethren. Notice that, first of all, in verses 20 to verse 25, we have Shaul's first experience of opposition. Up to this point, he was opposing all those Hebrew believers. He was consenting to the death of Stephen. He was the one that made havoc among the Jewish believers in Jerusalem.

But right now, there is a shift, there is a change. Now, he is beginning to experience what he had done to those brethren of his before he became a believer in Yeshua. And so, notice that, verses 20 to 25, first of all, you see the beautiful thing that Shaul began to preach in the synagogues in the city of Damascus. It's verse 20, he said, straightway, he preached Mashiach, Messiah, in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. Now, you notice that the word "senagogues", in Hebrew we call it "batei knesset" or "beit knesset", is in plural. There is no one synagogue, but there are many synagogues in Damascus.

The Jewish community was a large Jewish community in Damascus. There were many synagogues. And you see Shaul, going to the synagogues, began to present the person of the Messiah to his very own people, the Jewish people. And you notice what it says here. It says that he said to them, or he went to the preaching, the Messiah in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. You know, this is the only time in the book of Acts that we find the title, the Son of God, that Shaul was saying to his brethren in the synagogues about the Lord Yeshua being the Son of God.

Later on in the epistles, he used the word "Son of God" many times. But here it is the first time that he is using this expression, the Son of God. And we know this by experience, how much trouble we have with the truth that Yeshua the Messiah is the Son of God. You know, how much trouble we as Jewish people have with this expression. What do you mean the Son of God? We have only one God, our people say. God does not have a Son. Our Jewish community says, well, how can you say that God has a Son? Well, you see, where did the Apostle Paul get this information?

He went to the synagogues. He was telling to these Jewish brethren in the synagogues that Yeshua, the Messiah, who was going to come, he is the Son of God. Well, you know, there are many other passages, even before the New Testament were written, in the Tanakh, in the Old Testament, that God had described the coming Messiah as the Son. For example, if we just read Psalm 2, the Psalm is speaking and he says, and the Father is speaking about the Son, he says, kiss the Son. Psalm 2 and verse 12, lest he be angry. And he perish from the way. This is the voice of the Holy Spirit, who is speaking concerning the Messiah and giving a warning to the world, saying, kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you perish from the way.

If you go a little bit back in Psalm 2 and verse 7, Yeshua, the Messiah, prophetically speaking, where he said, I will declare a decree the Lord had said unto me, you are my son. This day have I begotten thee. Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance. You see, the truth concerning Yeshua, the promised Messiah, being the Son of God, is not only a New Testament teaching. Shaul did not have the New Testament when he went to the Senagogues in Damascus. He just got saved. He just accepted the Messiah. But he taught them that this, the Messiah, is the Son of God.

And we can go on to other verses, for example, Proverbs chapter 30 and verse 4. Who has ascended unto heaven and descended? Who have created all the ends of the earth? What is his name? What is his name? And what is his son's name? Can you tell? In the book of Proverbs chapter 30 we read. And even prior to what Solomon said, God promised David that there will be coming a day when his son, a descendant of David, is going to sit on the throne of David. And God says, I will be to him a father, and he will be to me a son. So there are plenty of information in the Old Testament, in the Tanakh, concerning the Messiah of Israel, who is also the Son of God.

You remember what Isaiah said? And to us, a child is born, and to us a son is given. You see, as a child in his humanity, he was born. As the Son of God in eternity path, he was given. We see his divine nature and his human nature united there in this passage that Isaiah has spoken about. And beautiful to see. So here, Shaul is going to the synagogue. And in verse 20, he is telling that the Messiah, the Mashiach, is the Son of God. Now, when they have heard that, it says in verse 21, the amazement of those that have heard what Shaul was saying to them.

It says in verse 21, "But all that heard him, they were amazed." And they said, "Is not he that destroyed them which called on this name in Jerusalem, and came hither for that intent that he might bring them bound unto the chief priests?" You see, they were amazed. Now, what would you do? If you would have someone who would come to our midst here, and he would seek to destroy and to kill and to take people, believers, from this little local fellowship here, and try to take away and to bring us bound, and seeking ultimately to destroy those who believe in Yeshua the Messiah. What would you do, what would I do, if there is all of a sudden a change in this person, and instead of coming and taking us away from here, coming and sitting in our midst, and listening to the word, and sharing with us his experience how he became a believer in Yeshua the Messiah?

We would be amazed. We would say, wait a minute. We may not even trust that person. How can we have confidence? Well, yesterday, you have sought to destroy us. Today, you are coming to our synagogues, and telling us that Yeshua is the Messiah, and that Messiah is the Son of God? We would be amazed as well. So they were amazed. And they said, "Lord, how is it possible? Well, is not this he that destroyed them which call on this name?" You see, when he was in Jerusalem, with the Sanhedrin at that time, and when Stephen was stoned by the leadership at that time, Shaul was right there.

He was consenting to the death of Stephen. And it was there that the Sanhedrin said also to Peter, and to the others, that we do not want you to preach in this name. And that was the name of Yeshua. And brothers and sisters, it's not only 2000 years ago, up till today, every time you share with others the name of Yeshua, the opposition is still the same. And yet, God says that in the name of Yeshua, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Yeshua, the Messiah is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And yet, men by nature, do not want to hear about the name of Yeshua.

And what a lovely name he has. And you shall call his name Yeshua. Matthew 1:21 And so in verse 21, the amazement of the change in the life of Shaul. They were amazed in the synagogue in Damascus. And so, brothers and sisters, in the next verse, we see the growth of Shaul. It says in verse 22, "And Shaul have increased the more in strength." This is not physical strength. This is spiritual strength. Physical strength, we got to go to the exercise room, and we do some exercise so we can get strong physically. But here is the spiritual strength. Now, how do we know when a brother or a sister are growing spiritually?

And becoming strong in the Lord? Well, you know what? When a person is growing, you can say, well, this person spent time with the Lord. This individual is really learning from Yeshua. He's spending time. He's growing. He's developing spiritually. That's what happened to Shaul. He grew, increased more in strength, and he confounded the Jewish people that dwelled in Damascus, proving to them that this is the very Messiah. That's the thing that we have to do today with our own Jewish brethren, to just prove to them the Word of God with the help of the Spirit of God that the one that we are speaking about is the very Messiah.

Which other Messiah we have? Israel, as a nation, is waiting for the Messiah now for years and anticipating our own nation for the coming of the Messiah. You will hear these words about the Mashiach when the Messiah will come. We will be rejoicing. We will have Shalom. We will have peace. But for years they are waiting on the Messiah and he hasn't come. According to our nation. But Shaul is telling them in a synagogue, listen, this is the one that you do not want to hear of his name. He is the very promised Mashiach of Israel. He is the Messiah. Accept him. And so he was continually confounded the Jewish people there that dwelt in Damascus, proving to them.

And I can assure you, brothers and sisters, in order to prove you got to take your Bible and open it. And it is the scripture that proved to us that Yeshua is the Messiah. It is God's word on a basis of the scripture that he can prove to them that Yeshua was the very promised Messiah of Israel. Now, I want you to see here that we don't read it here in this passage. And for some reason, Luke, the physician who wrote the book of Acts, did not mention it here. But between verse 22 and verse 23, something had happened, which we don't find here in the book of Acts.

But the Apostle Paul, Shaul himself, later on when he wrote to the Galatians, he mentioned of certain things that have happened between verse 22 and 23. Because you notice it says in verse 23, "After many days were fulfilled, the Jews to counsel to kill him." What are those many days? Well, I want you for a moment to turn to the book of Galatians, please. Open your Bible there to the book of Galatians. And look with me at the first chapter, Galatians chapter 1. It's nice to see how we can connect the book of Acts with Galatians chapter 1 and verse 10. Look what Shaul, what Paul is writing to the believers at Galatia, and he says to them, "For do I now persuade men, O God?

Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet please men, I should not be the servant of Messiah. But I clarify you, brethren, that the Gospel which was preached of me is not after men. For neither receive it I from men, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation from Yeshua the Messiah. For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jewish religion, how that I beyond measure have persecuted the church of God and wasted it, and profited in a Jewish religion above many of my equal in my own town and my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the tradition of my father." But now notice, verse 15.

"But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and He called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen, immediately I confer not with flesh and blood. Neither went up I to Jerusalem to them of the apostles before me." But now notice what He said in verse 17b. "But I went into Arabia, and I returned again unto Damascus. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with Him for fifteen days." You see, we are in Acts chapter 9 and verse 22 and 23, and in between those two verses, the many days of verse 23 is the period of time in which Shaul went to Arabia and remained in Damascus.

In other words, in between the time that He had accepted the Messiah and then preached in the synagogues of Damascus, God for some reason or another removed Shaul and took Him to Arabia. And He spent some time in Arabia. Apparently, according to Galatians chapter 1 and verse 17 and 18, He went to Arabia and returned to Damascus, and in between these two areas, He had been there for about three years. Now, why do you think He went to Arabia? Dear brothers and sisters, and I'm confident in this, that God wanted to teach Shaul some lessons. God wanted Shaul to spend some time alone, away from the public, and to be there alone with Him, that He can learn from Yeshua, learn from God the things concerning the Messiah.

And you know, it is so important, this is the principles in the scripture, that if we are to serve the Lord in public, we need to take some time and be in the presence of the Lord in private. Even Moshe, Moses, was 40 years in the wilderness, before he went to take our own people Israel outside of the land of Egypt. There is a time of separation from the public, so God can minister to him, and encourage him, and teach him. And you can just imagine what must have been there at the time when he was in Arabia, all alone, with God, with the Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

And the Lord must have taught him certain things concerning the ministry that he was going to minister. After all, according to our chapter, he was going to minister before the Gentiles, before the kings, but also before the children of Israel. And can you imagine? He must have spent time with the Lord opening the scripture. I don't know exactly how, because the Lord is in glory. And Paul was in Arabia, but nevertheless, or Shaul was in Arabia, but he ministered to him. He taught him the word of God. He ministered to him, and encouraged him, and gave him the grace, the wisdom that he needed, in order for him to be able to be the apostle to the uncircumcision in the world today.

And you and I have benefited from this. So the time between verse 22 and verse 23 of Acts chapter 9, Shaul spendeth with the Lord between Damascus and Arabia. And I'm reading this verse again, in verse 17 of Galatians 1. Neither went I up to Jerusalem, to them which were of the apostles before me. But I went into Arabia, and I returned again unto Damascus. You see, he went to Arabia, he returned back to Damascus. And then it says, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem. And I went to see Peter for 15 days. I think it's very precious to see this. And I think for us, it will also help us, in our spiritual life, to take some time alone with the Lord.

I don't know if you have this problem. But I confess that many of us, I guess we can confess that we often have a problem to be in private alone with the Lord. We have this problem. You know, we can say, well, I can pass the time to pray. I don't need to pray now. I'll pray tomorrow. Oh, well, you know what, I don't need to read the Bible today. I'll read it later on, next week, next month. And we have a problem with that. It's taking the time to spend alone with the Lord. So he will refresh our hearts and encourage us and minister to our own hearts.

And I'm sure you feel the same way. And that's why God wants his own people to spend some time alone with him so they can be used later on when the opportunity arrives for them in ministry. And so, Shaul, after he ever gloriously accepted Yeshua the Messiah, went to preach in the many synagogues in Damascus, all were amazed at the change that happened in the life of Shaul. He was increased in spiritual strength. He confounded the Jewish people there in Damascus, proving them that Yeshua was the Messiah. And in between there, for those three years, he went from Damascus to Arabia. And there he spent this time there, as the Lord had ministered to him.

And now notice that it says here, in verse 23, that they took counsel to kill him. You see, now, the very Jewish community in Damascus, to whom he was sent by the community in Jerusalem, he was coming as an unbeliever in Yeshua the Messiah with letter against the believers. Now those who did not believe turn up against him because he became a believer in Yeshua the Messiah. And so now, instead of him seeking to kill someone, the others sought to kill Shaul. So, you know what happened? It says here, in the next two verses, you see, they were laying in wait for Shaul. They watched the gates, night and day, in order to kill him.

Can you imagine? That night, they were watching to see, will he pass by? We're going to catch him, grab him and kill him, because he's now become a believer in Yeshua the Messiah. Day and night, they were watching to see how we're going to catch this man. And we are going to kill him, we're going to finish with him. But by the grace of God, these brethren, the disciples there, in verse 25, took him by night. And they let him down by the wall in a basket. What a humiliating experience it must have been. That here is this great man, Pharisee of Pharisees, who was the one that had the authority and the power earlier, is now hiding in a sense.

Taking by the disciples, let down with a basket by the wall at night that nobody can see him, so he will be able to flee away from those who sought to kill him. Now, I think the apostle himself must have felt it was a memory in his life that he mentioned that in other passages in the scripture, in the book of Corinthians, in 2 Corinthians. Shaul had mentioned this experience in 2 Corinthians 11 verses 32 and 33, where he mentioned that in the record about the experiences that he had as a persecuted believer in Yeshua the Messiah. In 2 Corinthians 11, notice what he says in verses 32 and 33 of this chapter, he said, In Damascus, the governor under King Aritas, the king kept the city of Damascus with garrisons desirous to apprehend me.

And then verse 33. And then verse 33. And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and I escaped his hand. Apparently, there was a connection between the king and the community, because here it says that the king Aritas and those that with the garrison, they are desirous to kill him. In Acts chapter 9, it was the Jewish people. So apparently, either there was a connection between the community and the king, or much more than just the Jewish community, also the king of this city of Damascus sought to kill him. And so, can you imagine, he mentioned that in 2 Corinthians 11, because he must have felt it.

It was very humiliating to be let down by the window and fleeing away to the very same city which he came with strength and power and authority that he had from the leaders in Jerusalem. You know, there are three experiences in the Bible that we read about those that have been taken down by the window. So, we are studying in the book of Joshua, if you remember in Joshua chapter 2, the spies that went to Rahab and spent time with Rahab, if you remember. And she hid them because the king of Jericho wanted to kill them. So Rahab helped them to go down by the window and to flee away, lest the king and his people will catch them, the two Israeli spies.

There is another experience that we have in Scripture in the story of David in 1 Samuel chapter 19. You remember which King Saul wanted to kill David. And you remember what King Saul did, he wanted to kill him. So Michal, the daughter of Shaul, this is a different Shaul, the king Shaul, she let David down by a window as well so he could escape from that other Shaul, the first king of Israel. I mean, it is amazing to think about it. What an experience these people have gone through their lives. To be preserved. And God had preserved the spies. God had preserved David. And God had preserved Shaul.

Everyone for his ministry that God have intended to give him. To give him. Well, here is these verses 20 to 25 where we have the first experience of opposition in Damascus that Shaul have experienced. Now it is interesting that he had experienced opposition in the city to which he came to. And now we are going to read from verse 26 to 31, he is going to experience opposition from the city from which he came from. The city of Jerusalem. And so in verse 26, we read that when Shaul came to Jerusalem. This is, by the way, after the three years that he was in Arabia and Damascus there. Then we read, when Shaul came to Jerusalem, he wanted, we say, to join himself to the disciples.

But they were all afraid of him. And they believed not that he was a disciple. Now, you see, here we find out, not only that the Jewish believers in Damascus were afraid of him. But the Jewish believers in Jerusalem were afraid of him. Well, what do you think? Just three years earlier or so, he was persecuting those people. He had havoc against them. So now he is coming back to Jerusalem, and he wanted to be among the brethren. And he is perhaps coming there. And it says in verse 26, you know, they were all afraid of him. Maybe they thought he came to spy on them, to give reports to their religious leaders, because they believe in the Messiah.

So they were afraid of him. They had so much fear from him. And it says, and believe not that he was a disciple, one of them, a follower of Yeshua, the Messiah. They didn't believe it in the beginning when he came. Well, the question immediately come to mind is perhaps was, how come he didn't come right away? If he became a believer in Yeshua, the Messiah in Damascus, how come he didn't come back to Jerusalem right away and expose himself and says, "Listen, I have trusted in the Messiah." But for three years, he was away. Nobody heard of him in a sense, or at least he was not exposed in such a way.

He was away. He was in Arabia. He was not coming and proclaiming to the community in Jerusalem that he became a follower of Yeshua, the Messiah. So they were afraid of him. And it is very well, you can understand that. And so it says in verse 27, look how beautiful. There was a man by the name of Barnabas. This is the English. The Hebrew is Bar-Naba. It says in verse 27, but Bar-Naba took him and brought him to the apostles. Now, this man by the name of Bar-Naba, it's two Hebrew words. Well, the word Bar means son in Aramit or Aramaic. It's very similar to the Hebrew.

In Hebrew, we say Ben. In Aramit, we say Bar. You know, when a person has his Bar-Mitzvah, he's the son of the commandments, son of the law. And here's a man by the name of Bar-Naba. Now, don't mix this name with another man. Bar-Naba, that we have in John chapter 19, who was a robber. Bar-Naba, the name means son of the father. Bar-Naba means the son of consolation or the son of a prophet. Nava means to prophesy a man by the name of prophet. Nava, Naba. So this man, if you remember, Bar-Naba was the man that we have already studied about him in the book of Acts in chapter 4 and verse 36.

His actual name is not Bar-Naba. His actual name was Yosef. But it says his name was Yosef, but the apostles were surnaming him Bar-Naba. He may have been a son, Bar, of a man that his father's name was called Naba. So this man was such a gracious man, Bar-Naba. If you remember in Acts chapter 4, he sold all his possession and he brought the money of his possession and he gave it to the apostles for the benefit of the assembly in Jerusalem, for the poor, for the needies. He was a very gracious man, Bar-Naba. These same men, by the name of Bar-Naba, have risen above the fear of the brethren in Jerusalem.

And he took Shaul. It says here that he took him, verse 27, and he brought him to the apostles and he declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way and that he had spoken to him and how he had preached boldly in Damascus in the name of Yeshua. You see, this Bar-Naba took Shaul and brought him to the disciples and said to them, listen, he had experience. He came to faith in Yeshua the Messiah on the way to Damascus. There was a change in his life. It was so nice to see Bar-Naba doing that because Bar-Naba was a man that was wanted to encourage.

He was a man of comfort. He was a man of giving rest and encouragement among the believers in Jerusalem. And so he came. He took Shaul. He brought him to the first Shlichim, the first apostles in Jerusalem. And he was telling them, listen, this is the one that had met the Messiah on the way to Damascus. His life was changed. He became a believer in the Messiah. He preached boldly in Damascus concerning the name of Yeshua. And you and I, dear friends, brothers and sisters know very well that the name of Yeshua is oftentimes not being accepted and not being understood, even by our own people, by our own brethren, whom we love dearly.

And yet we wish them to understand what the Lord has enlightened us to understand through the word of God. And so he brought him and he told the apostles that he was preaching in the name of the Messiah of Israel, of Yeshua. So, you know what happened? It says in the next verse 28, it says that he, this is Shaul, was with them coming in and going out in Jerusalem. So apparently, after Bar-Naba brought him to be in the midst of the disciples in Jerusalem, they cooled down, they relaxed, they accepted him that he had become a believer, a disciple of Yeshua the Messiah. And he was in their midst.

The expression here in verse 28, coming in and going out, is an expression that speaks of him having fellowship, having freedom to come in, go out, come in, go out. It was King Solomon, the king of Israel, who prayed to the God of our fathers and said to him, God, I want you to give me the wisdom and the ability to come in and go out among these great people, the nation of Israel. Why? Because he wanted to have liberty to serve the nation, liberty to be in the midst of the nation, to have the freedom and the concern and the care among the people of God.

That's what Solomon wanted many years ago, and that's what Shaul did when he was among the disciples. It's such a wonderful expression to come in and out, to be free to come in, free to go out with a good relationship. You know, it's just like when we say the word Shalom in Hebrew. We say Shalom when we greet each other. We say Shalom when we leave each other. Why do we say Shalom? Because the word Shalom means peace. And we want to be at peace with each other when we come to see each other. But when we leave each other, we also want to live in Shalom, in peace.

Going in and coming out. Having the liberty, the freedom without friction. Just simply seeking to be a blessing among the people of God. We read about Shaul here in verse 28. Where it said he was with them coming in and going out at Jerusalem. And by the way, according to Galatians chapter 1 and verse 18, he was among them for 15 days. Galatians 1 and verse 18 shows us how many days he was with them. And it was so nice to see that they cooled down. They have accepted Shaul. They recognized that he became a believer in Yeshua the Messiah. And they were no longer afraid of him, of Shaul. Well, in the next verses, as we are drawing on to the conclusion of this portion.

In the next verses, between verse 29 and on to verse 31. The next thing that we see, that Shaul was speaking in Yeshua's name. And notice, he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Yeshua. And he disputed against the Grecians. And they went about to slay him. Now, notice again, those Grecians, they were Grecians, Hebrews. You see, in the land of Israel, there were those from the diaspora, the dispersion. They were Jewish. They came to the land. They were part of the nation of Israel at that time. And they did not yet come to faith in the Messiah. So, now he continued where Stephen stopped. When Stephen's ministry ended because of rejection, Shaul continued.

Because now you find him disputing against the Grecians, Hebrews. Because they did not accept yet Yeshua as the Messiah. Shaul, as a Hebrew, did accept him already. And now there was a disputing, a discussion. Is he the Messiah? Is he not? Why we say that he was the Messiah? There was a disputation there. And there was a discussion. And of course, notice that it says here that they went about ultimately to slay him. Let me just make a statement here that I think is very important. Over the years, and I'm speaking for myself as a Jewish believer, I hear this expression, which I don't think it's right to mention, that the Jews persecuted the Christians.

I want to say this again. The Jewish people never persecuted Gentiles. Jewish religious people always persecuted their own brethren who believe in Yeshua the Messiah. Never the Gentile world. In fact, the truth of the matter, that even for a person to become Jewish per se, it's not an easy thing to do. He has to go through all the system of conversion and all whatever they expect from him to be. And so the Jewish people say, just leave us alone. Don't influence us with your religion. And they never would persecute the Gentile believers world. But if there was any persecution, it's always within the Jewish community.

You know the expression, 12 Jews, 13 opinions. We always, among ourselves, we have friction within ourselves. It's a Jewish story. It's the same thing in every place in the world. But we have this story within ourselves as a Jewish nation, as a nation of Israel. Some believe in that. Some do not believe in it. Some secular, some religious. And there is a friction within our own nation. Here what we see is exactly the same thing. Shaul was a believer. The Grecian, both of them were Jewish. He was a Jewish believer. They were Jewish unbelievers. And there were friction within each other. It's not a matter of persecution of the Christians, the Gentile believers.

But it's the persecution of the Jewish believers, their own brethren. You will see that throughout the biblical history, the Jewish people will never force anybody to become Jewish. Many other religions forcing others to become their system of religion, but never the Jewish people. Never. Because Israel as a nation was called to be a separate nation from all other nations. A distinct nation. Never by forcing others their religion. Never. It is not found in scripture. It's not found in history. Only the conflict within the nation. That's what we see here as well. And so now in the conclusion, look at this in the next verses. And let me just mention one more thing here before I forget.

In verse 29, when there was a disputation against the Grecian Hebrews, they went about to slay him. Shaul later on in Acts chapter 22, speaking to the many in the city of Jerusalem, when he went again to Jerusalem. And he told them what Yeshua had showed him in a vision. He told them how Yeshua warned him already. Where Yeshua himself said to him in Acts chapter 22 and verse 17. Yeshua said to Shaul. And it came to pass that when I was coming to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance. In other words, he received a vision from the Lord. And Yeshua said to him, and I saw him saying unto me, make haste, get thee quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive your testimony concerning me.

And then in verse 21, Yeshua said to him again, Be part for I will send you hence far unto the nations to preach the gospel to the nations of the world. And you can see that Shaul was called to be the apostles to the Gentile world, while Peter was called to be the apostle to the Jewish world. And you have these two great apostles. One of them, the apostles to the Gentiles. One of them, the apostles to the Hebrews, to the Jewish people. And so, Shaul, actually we should insert here, Acts chapter 22 verses 17 to 21, the experience that he told later on of how Yeshua the Messiah told him, listen, you got to go out because they are not going to accept your message concerning the Messiahship of mine.

Yeshua told him. And so the brethren in Jerusalem, when they heard that, it says in verse 30, which when the brethren knew, when they knew they have received his testimony, it says here that they brought him down to Kesariah, and they sent him forth to Tarsus. You know, in Kesariah, if you will go to Israel in Kesariah on the Mediterranean, you will see there is a port at that time. And there was where ships came in and went out. And it was a great place to bring him out from Jerusalem, to place him in Caesarea in Kesariah. And from there, he took a boat and he went to Tarsus, where it was his hometown, the home of Shaul found in Tarsus.

And by the way, if you look at the history and the record, you'll find out that he was in Tarsus for about 10 years before we find him again later on in chapter 13 and on of the book of Acts, where he began to be publicly. Now his ministry to the Gentile world is being recorded by Luke in Acts chapter 13. So, Shaul is now taken by the brethren. They preserved him from those who sought to take his life away from him, brought him to Caesarea. From Caesarea, he took ship to Tarsus. And there he remained for a while. It is his hometown. And then the portion concludes in verse 31, where it says that the assemblies in the land of Israel, in Judea and Samaria, they grew.

It says here, "Then the assemblies had rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and they were edified, walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, and they were multiplying." You know, today, when I became a believer more than 30 years ago, I thought I was the only Jewish man in the whole world that believed in Yeshua. That's what I thought. But when you see, when you look around and you meet people, you find out, "Wow, there are so many people among our Jewish nation who have already accepted the Messiah." And this story of Yeshua, the Messiah Yeshua, is nothing new that started here in this area or in the world.

It started already there in the city of Jerusalem. It says that in Judea and in Galilee and in Samaria, this is the land of Israel. They were edified. They were walking in the fear of the Lord. They were comforted by the Holy Spirit. And they grew, they multiplied. You see, edification, beginning with, if we want to grow, we need to be edified. Edified is being under the sound of the Word of God. Edification. Being influenced by the Word of God. That is edification. And then, after edification, they were walking in the fear of God. You know, there is a need to walk with the Lord.

Enoch walked with God. Noah walked with God. Abraham walked with God. Isaac walked with God. Jacob walked with God. Moses walked with God. Well, these are men that God used in the history of our people in Israel. They walked with God. There was a change that they left upon others as they walked with God. Well, these are brethren in Jerusalem, believers in Yeshua the Messiah. They were walking in the fear of the Lord. It was King Solomon who says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. When they fear of God, not afraid of Him, but honor to Him. He deserved to be honored in our lives.

And that's what happened here. They gave Him honor and glory. They feared. They respected God in their lives. It's so sad when we don't have honor and respect to God. And we don't have joy because of that. And then it says they were comforted by the Holy Spirit of God. With His power have given them comfort and joy to the believers. And as they edified, walking with God, comforted by the Spirit of God, you can see multiplication. Brothers and sisters, we don't want to grow in numbers just to have more bodies filling chairs. But we want to grow in numbers of people who truly belong to Yeshua the Messiah, who truly want to walk with the Lord.

That is a true multiplication. And that's what we need in our lives as believers. And you know, God will bless those who want to honor Him. God will always bless them. Even if we will not be majority, be minority, there is always a blessing in following the Lord Yeshua the Messiah because He promises those that will honor me, I will honor, I will bless. And so here is the story of Shaul. It's ended here for a while until we find him later on in chapter 13 being back on the front while he is now spending some time in his hometown that is called Tarsus. Well, may the Lord bless these thoughts to our hearts and encourage us.

And may the Lord help us to be like those people, to be edified, to walk with Him, to get comforted by the Spirit of God, and to multiply, to grow with other believers. Can we say amen to that? Amen.