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 he drove them from the judgment seat. Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of those things”, and in chapter eighteen and verse eighteen of the book of Acts Luke shared how Paul, “sailed … into Syria”,where we read:
And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed then into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shved his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow.
The verse reads, “And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed then into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila;”: Luke began with the words, “And Paul” which means “and Paul whose name means small or little” “after this tarried there” or “behind or following the seizure of the Jewish people taking him before Gallio at the judgment seat stayed, remained and continued in Corinth” “yet a good while” which means “for a sufficient time more”, “and then took his leave” or “and afterward left and departed” “of the brethren” which means “from the fellow believers who were united each other by the bond of affection”, “and sailed then into Syria” or “and departed by ship afterward to Syria whose name means exalted and was a region of Asia bounded on the north by Taurus and Amanus ranges, on the east by the Euphrates and Arabia, on the south by Palestine, and the west by Phoenicia and the Mediterranean”, “and with him” which means “and alongside Paul” “Priscilla” whose name means “ancient” “and Aquila” which refers to “the husband of Priscilla whose name means an eagle”. Luke shared how “Paul” continued in the city of “Corinth” for a little more time and then left the fellow believers there to sail to “Syria”. He took “Priscilla and Aquilla” with him in his travels.
The verse continues, “having shaved his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow.” Luke added the words, “having shaved his head” or “shearing or cutting short his, Paul's, hair on his physical head” “in Cenchrea” whose name means “millet and was the eastern harbor of Corinth (i.e. its harbor on the Saronic Gulf) and the emporium of its trade with the Asiatic shores of the Mediterranean, as Lechaeum on the Corinthian Gulf connected it with Italy and the west”: “for he had a vow” or “because, since and on account that he, Paul, held, possess, owned and kept fast a votive obligation or petition to God”. Luke shared how “Paul” shaved his hair as a “votive obligation” to God in the eastern harbor of Corinth known as “Cenchrea” before he set sail with “Priscilla and Aquila” to “Syria”.
When we consider Luke's words in this verse, we learn how “Paul” continued in “Corinth” for a little time after being brought before “Gallio” at the “judgment seat”. Afterward he left the fellow believers there, cut his hair for a “vow” unto God and set sail with “Priscilla and Aquila” to “Syria”. “Paul” was on the move, and there were more people who needed to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are not certain what his “vow” was that caused him to cut his hair, but nonetheless, he felt it important to do so before departing to “Syria”. His fellow tentmakers were with him, “Priscilla and Aquila”, and he continued on his mission with them at his side. God loves to share His “good news” of “salvation” with anyone who will listen, and when they submit themselves to His Son Jesus, He will forgive their sins and grant them everlasting life. Let all who read these words consecrate themselves unto God and surrender to Jesus Christ as their personal “Savior and Lord” to continue fulfilling “Paul's” and the Lord's mission to the world.
Next time Luke shares how Paul, “came to Ephesus”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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