Lesson 3692

 (Lesson 3692)(022-12-22) Acts 22:11-16

     “And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus. And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, Came unto me, and stood, and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him. And he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”

    Acts 9:8-18, “And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink. And there was a certain disciple at Damascus, named Ananias; and to him said the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord. And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.”

    The above quotes contain two distinctly different lessons. Today we will deal with the contrasts between the two quotes.

    Sadly, there area many today who will wrongly contend that the New Testament is to be taken literally, word for word. That contention is proven invalid by the comparison of the two differing accounts of Saul’s experience as he traveled toward Damascus. 

    We must assume that one of the two accounts is accurate and the other is, at least, a distortion of what actually occurred. To me, it is logical to assume that the more detailed of the two accounts is the most accurate.

    The Acts 9 account relates most ALL the details of Saul’s experience, whereas, the Acts 21 account only relates a distorted part of that experience and completely alters the intent of the Acts 9 account. Remember, both accounts were (SUPPOSEDLY) written by the same author.

        This lesson is intended to demonstrate that parts of the New Testament text CANNOT be taken literally. In order to find the ultimate truth, WE MUST do as we were instructed in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

    That word “dividing” means that, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we are to dig deeply into the intent of ALL the New testament in order to determine it’s meaning to usward, remembering that the gospel was described as a mystery by Paul.~ 

NOTE: Tomorrow’s lesson will deal with what really happened after Paul was stricken down by Jesus.