Satan’s strategy (Acts 21:27-36)

Satan’s strategy

 

 

 

 

 

[Acts 21:27-36]

 

 

 

               Pastor Joel Park's book, ‘Critique of the Korean Church Written with the Preparedness to Be Hit and Die’, is a clear and sharp criticism of the problems of the Korean Church.  For example, it deals with denomination supremacy, offerings, church building issues, and false sermons and prayers and etc.  Pastor Park said, ‘The Korean church does not unite the two, but divides one into two or hundreds, and the barrier between church and denomination is higher and stronger than the barrier between the old Pharisees and Sadducees.’  He said that true Jesus Christ broke down the wall, but the Korean church built a wall stronger than the Tower of Babel.’  According to the publisher, after the publication of this book last year, some 3,200 members of the mega-church returned to the local church.  They are said to continue to spread the movement to restore local churches by forming an organization called 'Handongye', such as the title of the book, ‘Jesus Weeping for the Korean Church.’  This book is considered very unusual for a Protestant pastor to directly criticize the Korean church, which is now being criticized by the public.  However, it clearly presents the mistakes of the Korean church and solutions that must be reformed.  And it is highly regarded as a book written with a penitent heart about the situation of the Korean church that even the antis, who are opposed to Christianity, could not mention (Internet).

 

What do you think of these criticisms of the church?  What kind of criticism can we make when we and ourselves look back at the church and ourselves as Christians?  Of course I'm talking constructive criticism.  I do not believe that criticism for the sake of criticism or non-constructive criticism is beneficial to the church.  Therefore, I think we need to criticize the Korean church constructively, and also need to listen humbly to those criticisms.  One of my personal criticisms of the church is that I think the church is not becoming a militant church.  We must not forget that the church is fighting a spiritual battle until the day of the second coming of Jesus.  Therefore, the church must be the militant church.  Therefore, we must fight the good fight of faith while running the race of our faith (1 Tim. 6:12; 2 Tim. 4:7).  We must all be militant Christians who fight the spiritual battle with assurance of victory.  In order to do that, we need to know a little bit about our enemy, Satan and his strategy.

 

                In Acts 21:33, we see the Apostle Paul going up to Jerusalem and being bound according to the prophecy of the Holy Spirit.  In this way, I would like to meditate on how the unbelieving Jews from Asia (v. 27), who were the persecutors who oppose Paul in Jerusalem and oppose the gospel, even bound Paul, in four ways.  In the meantime, I want to think about the strategies of Satan and his servants who oppose Jesus, oppose the His gospel, and oppose us.  When we know the pattern, we will know the temptation of Satan and will be able to fight that temptation and win.

 

              First, Satan's strategy (temptation) is stirring up.

 

                Look at Acts 21:27 – “When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him.”  Apostle Paul accepted the counsel of James, the leader of the church in Jerusalem, and all the elders, entered the temple with the four Nazarites who took vows, paid various sacrifices for them, and participated in their sacrifices, showing how thorough and pious he was.  When the very day that definitively shows the truth was right before our eyes, the Jews from Asia for the Feast of Pentecost saw Paul in the temple and urged all the crowd to arrest Paul (Sang-seop Yoo).  How, then, did these Jews from Asia provoke the whole crowd in the temple?  They did not hesitate to make false claims about the Apostle Paul.  Those false claims can be summarized in two parts (Yoo):

 

(1)    The first false claim was that Paul was teaching everywhere against the Jews, the Law, and the Temple.

 

Look at Acts 21:28a – “shouting, "Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and our law and this place. ….”  This argument was enough to stir up the Jews.  The reason is because it was the claim related to Jewish identity.  In other words, since the Law and the Temple (Jerusalem Temple) were fundamental factors in determining their identity for the Jews, claiming that the Apostle Paul was a teacher against the Law and the Temple (Jerusalem Temple) was a worthy argument enough to provoke the hearts of all Jews and anger them.

 

(2)    The second false claim was that Paul had brought even Greeks into the temple area and defiled the holy place.

 

Look at Acts 21:28b-29: “And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple area and defiled this holy place.  (They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple area.)”  At that time, the temple had a court of Levites, a court of Israelite men, a court of women, and a court of the Gentiles.  But they claim that the Gentiles crossed the boundary wall and entered through the women's courts and the Israelite men's courts, saying that Paul had committed this great sin.  At that time, according to the historian Josephus, there was a warning on the wall of the border, which warned that if strangers crossed the border, they would be killed.  Dr. Sang-seop Yoo says: ‘It was a serious crime to be executed immediately for a foreigner to enter a woman's yard.  And if you went beyond this and even enter the yard of an Israeli man, then you could easily guess how serious the situation was’ (Yoo).  However, this was not an argument based on the fact.  But the Jews who were Paul's opponents from Asia speculated on it (v. 29) (Yoo).  They must first confirm whether it was true or not, and then said it.  But they just stirred up all the Jewish men who were in the courtyard of the Israeli men in the temple to arrest Paul.  The Apostle Paul had this experience already at Iconium (Ch. 14).  When he and Barnabas went to Iconium and went into the Jewish synagogue as usual and preached the gospel, not only he experienced that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed (v. 1), but also disobedient Jews, who refused to believed stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers (v. 2).  So they mistreated Paul and Barnabas and tried to stone them (v. 5). 

 

                How pathetic and frustrating is this?  However, I think this is also happening in the church of this age in which we live.  In other words, I think there are people in the church who, like the Jews from Asia, make false claims to stir up the members of the church.  It's not based on facts, but just speculation and making claims about people they hate and dislike.  Thus, they eventually inspire the people around them to form their own side and form a group.  So the Bible Proverbs 16:28 says this: “A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends.”  Considering the Bible verse “When words are many, sin is not absent” (10:19), there may be many instances in the church where babblers in the church keep making statements that are not based on facts and provoke other members into quarrels in the church.  It is because the church listens to the lies of the devil.  This is because the devil keeps emphasizing that they have different thoughts and stir them up to fight.  Satan keeps stirring us up to do evil.  How does he do this?  In Genesis 3, just as the crafty serpent provoked Adam by repeatedly saying, 'If you eat this fruit, you will become like God,' Satan keeps urging us to exercise our will to assert it.  That is why Satan makes us to be the center of our lives, and keeps urging us to live our own life, pursuing our own interests, and to achieve our own life and our happiness by relying on our own strength and ingenuity, that is, our own resources’ (Internet).  We must not succumb to Satan’s temptations due to the quality of this conflict and break the peace and order of the church by constantly making claims in the church.  Rather, we must diligently build up the church, the body of the Lord, as the Spirit stirs up our hearts as in Haggai 1:15, not Satan's stirring up.

 

            Second, Satan's strategy (temptation) is provocation.

 

            Look at Acts 21:30 – “Then all the city was provoked, and the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut.”  In the end, the Jews from Asia seized Paul in unsubstantiated speculation and eschewed his assertions, which in turn provoked all the Israeli men in the temple.  Therefore, the whole city of Jerusalem was in a commotion, and the people ran and gathered Paul, captured Paul, and dragged him out of the temple.  And in verse 31, Paul was brought out from the courts of Israel, through the courts of women, and into the courts of the Gentiles, and was on the brink of death.  The people were beating Paul with the intent to kill him until the commander of the Roman cohort came with the centurions and the soldiers (v. 32) (Yoo).  As a result of the urge of the Jews from Asia, the entire city of Jerusalem was in confusion (v. 31).  I think it's still the same.  We see and hear things that stir people up in the church and cause the whole church to make confusion and commotion even now, here and there in the church.  But the people who make the church loud and noisy by that stir up don't seem to know that they are the cause of the problem.  Rather, they undermine the peace of the church by making assumptions that they are right and the other person is wrong.  At the same time, they accuse the other party, not themselves, who are responsible for breaking the church's peace and making noise.  The Apostle Paul also had this experience.  In Acts 16, when the Apostle Paul was going to a place of prayer in Philippi, he met a female servant possessed by a fortune-telling demon (v. 16).  When he brought out a demon in the name of Jesus Christ (v. 18), the slave girl's owner realized that their hope of making money was gone (v. 19).  So they brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar” (v. 20).  In the end, the owners of this demon-possessed girl seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities (v. 19) and claimed that Paul and Silas were making a lot of commotion and provocation in the city.  There are, like these owners, people in the church who are stir up, uproar, and provoke because of financial problems.  We must be on guard against the commotion or provocation, which is this second Satan's temptation.  And we must do our best to keep order in the church.  Our God is not a God of disorder.  The Bible 1 Corinthians 14:33 says, “…  God is not a God of confusion but of peace ….”  Therefore, we must carry out the work of peacemaking in the church.

 

            Third, Satan's strategy (temptation) is rumor.

 

            Look at Acts 21:31 – “While they were seeking to kill him, a report came up to the commander of the Roman cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion.”  Here, the word “a report” in translated as ‘a rumor’ in the Korean Bible.  When the Jews from Asia stirred up all the Jewish men in the temple and caused a commotion and provocation in the city of Jerusalem, and eventually dragged Paul out of the temple and tried to kill him, the report (rumor) came up to the commander of the Roman cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion (v. 31).  So, the commander hurriedly went with soldiers and centurions (v. 32), and ordered that Paul be arrested and bound with two chains (v. 33).  After that, when the commander asked who he was and what he had done (v. 33).  “But among the crowd some were shouting one thing and some another” (v. 34).  When he could not find out the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks (v. 34).

 

            Do you know how fast the rumors spread?  I found this interesting article to share: ‘There are people who have analyzed the speed at which rumors spread through mathematical calculations.  The speed at which rumors spread is beyond our imagination.  Suppose a man shows up at 8 in the morning in a small town of 30,000 people with startling rumors.  He tells the news to just three people.  Let's say it takes about 15 minutes to spread this rumor.  Then, at 8:15 in the morning, the four people in the city know about this rumor.  The three people who hear the rumors each tell the story to the other three friends. Again, it takes 15 minutes here.

 

Number of people who know the rumor by 8:30: 4+(3X3) = 13 people

Number of people who know the rumor by 8:45: 13+(3X9) = 40 people

Number of people who know the rumor by 9:00 : 40+(3X27) = 121 people

Number of people who know the rumors by 9:15: 121+(3X81) = 364 people

Number of people who know the rumors by 9:30 : 343+(3X243) = 1,093 people

Number of people who know the rumor by 9:45: 1,093+(3X729) = 3,280 people

Number of people who know the rumors by 10:00: 3,280+(3X2,187) = 9,841 people

Number of people who know the rumors by 10:15: 9,841+(3X6,561) = 29,524 people

 

After all, people in small towns will know this rumor before two and a half hours. … It could be faster than this in Korea.  The speed of the Internet spread is probably beyond imagination.  So maybe in two hours it can reach a few million people.  Also, the speed of the rumors is amazing.  It seems to be true that silent words go a thousand miles (Internet).

 

            We must not spread malicious rumors in the church.  When I looked on the Internet, I saw an article under the title of ‘A letter of advice and warning against illegal groups who call themselves ‘Queen Samo’ for the establishment of a healthy and upright church,’ dated December 9, 2007 by a session of a Korean American immigrant church in the United States.  Looking at the contents of the article, there is an article under the sub-topic ‘Background of counsel and warnings against self-proclaimed Queen-samo,” and it is divided: ‘The session of this church has been formed by a small group of self-proclaimed Queen-samo’ that has been around for the past 1 year and 6 months.  We have evidence for all the facts about spreading malicious rumors and sending discordant documents to common members, and as a result of directly asking the members who are judged to be related, not a single member of the 'Queen Samo' member admitted to being a member.  They have spread malicious rumors in the church and framed certain members or ministers without any basis.  But it is true that they have been waiting for the conversion of the minority group for the sake of the exhortation of love and the oneness of the church.  As a result of the investigation, their words and actions were only malicious and baseless plotting to the extent that they could not even be called saints’ (Internet).  Rather, like the church in Antioch (Acts 11:22), our church should be a well-known church.  I earnestly hope and pray that the church will become a church where many people can believe in Jesus and come back to Him because the power of God is with them (v. 21).  Also, I hope and pray that our church will become a church where the word of our faith spreads everywhere, just like the church in Thessalonica.

 

Fourth and last, Satan's strategy (temptation) is violence.

 

               Look at Acts 21:35 – “When he got to the stairs, he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob.”  When Paul was being arrested and beaten by the people after hearing the rumors of commotion and confusion, the commander of the Roman cohort arrived with the centurions and soldiers (v. 32) and asked, ‘Who was Paul and what he had done?’ (v. 33)  Then he ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks first because the truth of the incident could not be grasped due to the commotion (v. 34).  So, when Paul got to the stairs, he was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob (v. 35).  The soldiers recognized this unusual sign because a crowd of people followed them and cried out for Paul to be removed [It is not “Away with him!” but ‘You commander, get rid of him!’] (Yoo).  This call was to pressure the commander to remove Paul.  Considering that the Jews in Jesus' day cried out to the governor Pilate, ‘Get rid of this man and set Barabbas free’ (Lk. 23:18), we see the Apostle Paul suffering like Jesus.  The ultimate purpose of this Satanic temptation, “violence,” is to get rid of people.  Until this goal is achieved, Satan and his servants are constantly tempting and committing evil.

 

            Can church members fight and quarrel with each other and become violent?  It seems like saying bad words is nothing.  It's really frustrating when I hear church officials blaspheme without hesitation in the church or especially outside the church.  At one church, even at the church board meeting, I heard that the elder was angry and cursed and quarreled.  However, if we go further and use violence outside the church like the bloody people of the world, how can we explain such violent behavior as a believer in Jesus?  Last week, when I saw the news on Yahoo's Internet version of Korea, I remember reading an article about three pastors who were drinking at a drinking party and assaulted a man, who seemed like a non-believer, who asked them how the pastors could drink.  I was speechless. We Christians must not use verbal abuse and violence.  We should never be the aggressors.  Rather, we should remember that even if we are assaulted and suffer, our mission is to suffer for the Lord in addition to the mission of preaching the gospel in fulfilling the Lord's will.

 

Satan is attacking the church.  Satan is trying to stir up commotion within the church and provoke the church.  He is trying to destroy the peace and order of the church by spreading even malicious rumors.  Furthermore, Satan even forsake (remove) the children of God from the community by verbal abuse and violent behavior.  What should we do?  We must resist this satanic attack.  In other words, we must counter his tactics: stirring up, provocation, rumor and violence.  I hope and pray that the church that is the body of our Lord will be a church with order, a church with peace, a church with the word of faith, and a church with love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the hope of becoming a church that triumphs over adversity,

 

 

 

 

 

James Kim

(While being cautious of rumors and disturbances)