In the Word (Acts 17:4-15)

Acts 17:4-15

⁴ Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women.

⁵ But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. ⁶ But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, ⁷ and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.” ⁸ When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. ⁹ Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.

¹⁰ As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹ Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. ¹² As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men.

¹³ But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. ¹⁴ The believers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. ¹⁵ Those who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible. ^[1]

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What’s striking to me today in this passage is the initial reaction of the Bereans to Paul and his message.  It is always important to note attitudes and activities which are commended in Scripture.  We are to take note and imitate that which is commended.  In the case of the Bereans it is their daily study of the Scriptures in order to verify the truth of what Paul was teaching them.

There are actually two things that I see here to be commended.

• Believing that truth matters
• Looking for it in the Scriptures.

They didn’t merely accept what Paul said as truth.  Because truth is important, they were led to seek verification of what Paul was saying.  No doubt they were aware, and may have had experience with false teachers.  We are to have the same attitude.  Not everything we hear or read is true, especially in the spiritual realm.  This is not a matter of mere curiosity or opinion.  Where truth is involved, we are to seek it out.

Secondly, their search for truth led them into the Scriptures.  They looked at the Scriptures as the bedrock of truth, the norm to which all other truth claims were to be evaluated.  And so they embarked on a daily study of the Scriptures, comparing what they had heard from Paul to what was recorded in the Word.

There are many reasons to be in the Word daily:  Dwelling with God, hearing His voice for the day, finding encouragement and strength, being reminded of God’s promises, and so on.  The Bereans remind us that another reason to be in the Word daily is so that we know the truth, and then can evaluate what we hear, and test it against the truth of God’s Word.

My prayer today is that the Word, as I study it, informs my heart and my mind, so that I hear the voice of truth. I pray that the Spirit through the Word keep me from every wrong path.

 

What is the Word leading you to pray about today?

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^[1] The New International Version. (2011). (Ac 17:1–15). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.