Driven from the Judgment Seat - Acts 18:16

Luke the beloved physician wrote when Paul was in Corinth the Lord spoke, “to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not your peace. For I am with you, and no man shall set on you to hurt you: for I have much people in this city. And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat, saying, This fellow persuades men to worship God contrary to the law. And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O you Jews, reason would that I should bear with you. But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look you to it; for I will be no judge of such matters”, and in chapter eighteen and verse sixteen of the book of Acts Luke shared how Gallio, “drove them out of the judgment seat” where we read:

And he drove them from the judgment seat.

The verse reads, “And he drove them from the judgment seat.”: Luke began with the words, “and he drove them” which means “and Gallio dismissed and sent away the Jewish people who accosted Paul” “from the judgment seat” or “apart and separate from the raised place, platform and tribune which was mounted by steps and was the official seat of a judge”. Luke shared how “Gallio” dismissed the “Jewish people” who seized “Paul” from the place where he sat as judge.

When we meditate upon Luke's words in this verse, we discover how “Gallio” ran off the “Jewish people” who had ill-intentions against “Paul”. Rather than hear their case and make a judgment against “Paul”, “Gallio” basically made a judgment against them. We can imagine the embarrassment the Jewish people felt who were rejected by “Gallio”, and we shall see what happens to some of them in our next verse. God's desire was for all people to hear His “gospel” of salvation through His Son Jesus, and when they submit their lives to Him, He will forgive their sins and grant them everlasting life. Though opposition is certain to come when a person believes in Jesus, God Himself will watch over and protect them according to His divine plan and will.

Next time Luke shares, “then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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