Day 195, July 14: Bible reading & prayer
Micah 1-7 (chronological); Psalms 13-16, Acts 18 (OT/NT)
In this era of the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel, we’ve begun to read a number of prophetic books. We’ve read Obadiah (which was a warning to Edom, descendants of Esau), Jonah (which was a warning to Assyria, who God ultimately used to punish Israel), and Amos (a warning to the enemies of the people of Israel, Judah, and Israel). Today we’ll read Micah. We’ve started Isaiah, which is a long book that spans the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Yesterday we read in 2 Chronicles about the reign of Jotham, son of Uzziah, who “became mighty because he ordered his ways before the LORD his God.” We also read, “But the people continued acting corruptly.” This is the time frame in which Isaiah, Amos, and Micah all spoke. Their prophecies have similar and repeating themes. God was faithful to warn His people again and again.
When we started reading Isaiah, we talked about the several lenses with which to read it. One is with the historical context in mind, in which so many in Israel had forsaken the LORD. Another is looking at prophecies that have since been fulfilled and prophecies that have yet to be fulfilled (every fulfilled prophecy that we read about in scripture gives us confidence for prophecies that have yet to be fulfilled). Finally, we can read with meditation and conviction about our own sin.
Isaiah was privileged to prophesy about our Messiah. The Lord had him tell Ahaz, “Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14b). Yesterday, we read, “in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them….For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”
After this long-term prophecy, Isaiah returned to a short-term one: “The Lord sends a message against Jacob, And it falls on Israel….Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, Asserting in pride and in arrogance of heart….the LORD raises against them adversaries from Rezin And spurs their enemies on, The Arameans on the east and the Philistines on the west; And they devour Israel with gaping jaws….Yet the people do not turn back to Him who struck them, Nor do they seek the LORD of hosts….For those who guide this people are leading them astray; And those who are guided by them are brought to confusion….every one of them is godless and an evildoer, And every mouth is speaking foolishness.”
Isaiah spoke warnings that apply to all of us: “Woe to those who enact evil statutes And to those who constantly record unjust decisions, So as to deprive the needy of justice And rob the poor of My people of their rights, So that widows may be their spoil And that they may plunder the orphans. Now what will you do in the day of punishment, And in the devastation which will come from afar?”
Isaiah revealed that the LORD may use enemies to punish His people, but that does not spare them from punishment themselves: “Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hands is My indignation….when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, ‘I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the pomp of his haughtiness.’…Is the axe to boast itself over the one who chops with it? Is the saw to exalt itself over the one who wields it?”
He spoke again of the fate of Israel: “in that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel….though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, Only a remnant within them will return; A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness. For a complete destruction, one that is decreed, the Lord GOD of hosts will execute in the midst of the whole land….‘O My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear the Assyrian who strikes you with the rod and lifts up his staff against you, the way Egypt did. For in a very little while My indignation against you will be spent and My anger will be directed to their destruction.’”
Isaiah spoke again of our Messiah, and His people Israel, “a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear of the LORD….with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth….the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD….in that day The nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a signal for the peoples; And His resting place will be glorious….the Lord Will again recover the second time with His hand The remnant of His people….Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, And Judah will not harass Ephraim…..They will possess Edom and Moab, And the sons of Ammon will be subject to them….there will be a highway from Assyria For the remnant of His people who will be left, Just as there was for Israel In the day that they came up out of the land of Egypt.”
The LORD will preserve a remnant of the faithful. “Then you will say on that day, ‘I will give thanks to You, O LORD; For although You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, And You comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For the LORD GOD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation….Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name. Make known His deeds among the peoples; Make them remember that His name is exalted.’”
The prophet Micah spoke during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. This is also a long span of time, like Isaiah, but the book attributed to him is much shorter. He prophesied about the kingdom of Israel’s exile to Assyria and the kingdom of Judah’s exile to Babylon as consequence for their idol worship. He also prophesied about the Messiah, and the ultimate establishment of Jerusalem at the end of days.
The era of the kings of Judah and the kings of Israel is recounted in 1 & 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles (I note the kings of Judah in bold and the kings of Israel in bold italics).
I include housekeeping details daily for those who have newly joined this study. I usually try to schedule the timing of each day’s post so there is consistency, but sometimes I fail due to my own schedule. If you are looking for the day’s reading earlier than the post is available, you can always search for the same day’s reading from last year.
An overview of our yearly Bible reading plan, with all edited summaries so far, can be found here. My appeal for the resolution to read your Bibles is here. My challenge for us to read in wonder, recognizing the Bible is true and has consequence for our lives is here.
I use blueletterBible.org (NASB95) as my Bible study tool.
I do find typos in my writing after the fact. I schedule these posts early, but always re-read and edit them on the morning they’re posted. So, if you notice a lot of typos in an email version, just check back on Substack for an edited version (you can tell the timing of my editing by when I post the day’s reading and prayer on X: @KDMilhoanMD. If you found this study this way, praise God, and…welcome!)
July 14 chronological reading: Micah 1-7
Micah 1
v1 “The word of the LORD which came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
v2-7 “Hear, O peoples, all of you;
Listen, O earth and all it contains,
And let the Lord GOD be a witness against you,
The Lord from His holy temple.
For behold, the LORD is coming forth from His place.
He will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.
The mountains will melt under Him
And the valleys will be split,
Like wax before the fire,
Like water poured down a steep place.
All this is for the rebellion of Jacob
And for the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the rebellion of Jacob?
Is it not Samaria?
What is the high place of Judah?
Is it not Jerusalem?
For I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the open country,
Planting places for a vineyard.
I will pour her stones down into the valley
And will lay bare her foundations.
All of her idols will be smashed,
All of her earnings will be burned with fire
And all of her images I will make desolate,
For she collected them from a harlot’s earnings,
And to the earnings of a harlot they will return.
v8-16 “Because of this I must lament and wail,
I must go barefoot and naked;
I must make a lament like the jackals
And a mourning like the ostriches.
For her wound is incurable,
For it has come to Judah;
It has reached the gate of my people,
Even to Jerusalem.
Tell it not in Gath,
Weep not at all.
At Beth-le-aphrah roll yourself in the dust.
Go on your way, inhabitant of Shaphir, in shameful nakedness.
The inhabitant of Zaanan does not escape.
The lamentation of Beth-ezel: ‘He will take from you its support.’
For the inhabitant of Maroth
Becomes weak waiting for good,
Because a calamity has come down from the LORD
To the gate of Jerusalem.
Harness the chariot to the team of horses,
O inhabitant of Lachish—
She was the beginning of sin
To the daughter of Zion—
Because in you were found
The rebellious acts of Israel.
Therefore you will give parting gifts
On behalf of Moresheth-gath;
The houses of Achzib will become a deception
To the kings of Israel.
Moreover, I will bring on you
The one who takes possession,
O inhabitant of Mareshah.
The glory of Israel will enter Adullam.
Make yourself bald and cut off your hair,
Because of the children of your delight;
Extend your baldness like the eagle,
For they will go from you into exile.”
Micah 2
v1-2 “Woe to those who scheme iniquity,
Who work out evil on their beds!
When morning comes, they do it,
For it is in the power of their hands.
They covet fields and then seize them,
And houses, and take them away.
They rob a man and his house,
A man and his inheritance.
v3-5 “Therefore thus says the LORD,
‘Behold, I am planning against this family a calamity
From which you cannot remove your necks;
And you will not walk haughtily,
For it will be an evil time.
On that day they will take up against you a taunt
And utter a bitter lamentation and say,
“We are completely destroyed!
He exchanges the portion of my people;
How He removes it from me!
To the apostate He apportions our fields.”
Therefore you will have no one stretching a measuring line
For you by lot in the assembly of the LORD.
v6-11 ‘“Do not speak out,” so they speak out.
But if they do not speak out concerning these things,
Reproaches will not be turned back.
Is it being said, O house of Jacob:
”Is the Spirit of the LORD impatient?
Are these His doings?”
Do not My words do good
To the one walking uprightly?
Recently My people have arisen as an enemy—
You strip the robe off the garment
From unsuspecting passers-by,
From those returned from war.
The women of My people you evict,
Each one from her pleasant house.
From her children you take My splendor forever.
Arise and go,
For this is no place of rest
Because of the uncleanness that brings on destruction,
A painful destruction.
If a man walking after wind and falsehood
Had told lies and said,
“I will speak out to you concerning wine and liquor,”
He would be spokesman to this people.
v12-13 ‘I will surely assemble all of you, Jacob,
I will surely gather the remnant of Israel.
I will put them together like sheep in the fold;
Like a flock in the midst of its pasture
They will be noisy with men.
The breaker goes up before them;
They break out, pass through the gate and go out by it.
So their king goes on before them,
And the LORD at their head.’”
Micah 3
v1-4 “And I said,
‘Hear now, heads of Jacob
And rulers of the house of Israel.
Is it not for you to know justice?
You who hate good and love evil,
Who tear off their skin from them
And their flesh from their bones,
Who eat the flesh of my people,
Strip off their skin from them,
Break their bones
And chop them up as for the pot
And as meat in a kettle.’
Then they will cry out to the LORD,
But He will not answer them.
Instead, He will hide His face from them at that time
Because they have practiced evil deeds.
v5-12 “Thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who lead my people astray;
When they have something to bite with their teeth,
They cry, ‘Peace,’
But against him who puts nothing in their mouths
They declare holy war.
Therefore it will be night for you—without vision,
And darkness for you—without divination.
The sun will go down on the prophets,
And the day will become dark over them.
The seers will be ashamed
And the diviners will be embarrassed.
Indeed, they will all cover their mouths
Because there is no answer from God.
On the other hand I am filled with power—
With the Spirit of the LORD—
And with justice and courage
To make known to Jacob his rebellious act,
Even to Israel his sin.
Now hear this, heads of the house of Jacob
And rulers of the house of Israel,
Who abhor justice
And twist everything that is straight,
Who build Zion with bloodshed
And Jerusalem with violent injustice.
Her leaders pronounce judgment for a bribe,
Her priests instruct for a price
And her prophets divine for money.
Yet they lean on the LORD saying,
‘Is not the LORD in our midst?
Calamity will not come upon us.’
Therefore, on account of you
Zion will be plowed as a field,
Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins,
And the mountain of the temple will become high places of a forest.”
Micah 4
v1-5 “And it will come about in the last days
That the mountain of the house of the LORD
Will be established as the chief of the mountains.
It will be raised above the hills,
And the peoples will stream to it.
Many nations will come and say,
‘Come and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD
And to the house of the God of Jacob,
That He may teach us about His ways
And that we may walk in His paths.’
For from Zion will go forth the law,
Even the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
And He will judge between many peoples
And render decisions for mighty, distant nations.
Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares
And their spears into pruning hooks;
Nation will not lift up sword against nation,
And never again will they train for war.
Each of them will sit under his vine
And under his fig tree,
With no one to make them afraid,
For the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.
Though all the peoples walk
Each in the name of his god,
As for us, we will walk
In the name of the LORD our God forever and ever.
v6-8 “‘In that day,’ declares the LORD,
‘I will assemble the lame
And gather the outcasts,
Even those whom I have afflicted.
I will make the lame a remnant
And the outcasts a strong nation,
And the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion
From now on and forever.
As for you, tower of the flock,
Hill of the daughter of Zion,
To you it will come—
Even the former dominion will come,
The kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.
v9-13 “‘Now, why do you cry out loudly?
Is there no king among you,
Or has your counselor perished,
That agony has gripped you like a woman in childbirth?
Writhe and labor to give birth,
Daughter of Zion,
Like a woman in childbirth;
For now you will go out of the city,
Dwell in the field,
And go to Babylon.
There you will be rescued;
There the LORD will redeem you
From the hand of your enemies.
And now many nations have been assembled against you
Who say, “Let her be polluted,
And let our eyes gloat over Zion.”
But they do not know the thoughts of the LORD,
And they do not understand His purpose;
For He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
Arise and thresh, daughter of Zion,
For your horn I will make iron
And your hoofs I will make bronze,
That you may pulverize many peoples,
That you may devote to the LORD their unjust gain
And their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.’”
Micah 5
v1-6 “‘Now muster yourselves in troops, daughter of troops;
They have laid siege against us;
With a rod they will smite the judge of Israel on the cheek.
But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.
His goings forth are from long ago,
From the days of eternity.’
Therefore He will give them up until the time
When she who is in labor has borne a child.
Then the remainder of His brethren
Will return to the sons of Israel.
And He will arise and shepherd His flock
In the strength of the LORD,
In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God.
And they will remain,
Because at that time He will be great
To the ends of the earth.
This One will be our peace.
When the Assyrian invades our land,
When he tramples on our citadels,
Then we will raise against him
Seven shepherds and eight leaders of men.
They will shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword,
The land of Nimrod at its entrances;
And He will deliver us from the Assyrian
When he attacks our land
And when he tramples our territory.
v7-9 “Then the remnant of Jacob
Will be among many peoples
Like dew from the LORD,
Like showers on vegetation
Which do not wait for man
Or delay for the sons of men.
The remnant of Jacob
Will be among the nations,
Among many peoples
Like a lion among the beasts of the forest,
Like a young lion among flocks of sheep,
Which, if he passes through,
Tramples down and tears,
And there is none to rescue.
Your hand will be lifted up against your adversaries,
And all your enemies will be cut off.
v10-15 “‘It will be in that day,’ declares the LORD,
‘That I will cut off your horses from among you
And destroy your chariots.
I will also cut off the cities of your land
And tear down all your fortifications.
I will cut off sorceries from your hand,
And you will have fortune-tellers no more.
I will cut off your carved images
And your sacred pillars from among you,
So that you will no longer bow down
To the work of your hands.
I will root out your Asherim from among you
And destroy your cities.
And I will execute vengeance in anger and wrath
On the nations which have not obeyed.’”
Micah 6
v1-5 “Hear now what the LORD is saying,
‘Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
And let the hills hear your voice.
Listen, you mountains, to the indictment of the LORD,
And you enduring foundations of the earth,
Because the LORD has a case against His people;
Even with Israel He will dispute.
My people, what have I done to you,
And how have I wearied you? Answer Me.
Indeed, I brought you up from the land of Egypt
And ransomed you from the house of slavery,
And I sent before you Moses, Aaron and Miriam.
My people, remember now
What Balak king of Moab counseled
And what Balaam son of Beor answered him,
And from Shittim to Gilgal,
So that you might know the righteous acts of the LORD.’
v6-8 “With what shall I come to the LORD
And bow myself before the God on high?
Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings,
With yearling calves?
Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams,
In ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?
v9-16 “The voice of the LORD will call to the city—
And it is sound wisdom to fear Your name:
‘Hear, O tribe. Who has appointed its time?
Is there yet a man in the wicked house,
Along with treasures of wickedness
And a short measure that is cursed?
Can I justify wicked scales
And a bag of deceptive weights?
For the rich men of the city are full of violence,
Her residents speak lies,
And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
So also I will make you sick, striking you down,
Desolating you because of your sins.
You will eat, but you will not be satisfied,
And your vileness will be in your midst.
You will try to remove for safekeeping,
But you will not preserve anything,
And what you do preserve I will give to the sword.
You will sow but you will not reap.
You will tread the olive but will not anoint yourself with oil;
And the grapes, but you will not drink wine.
The statutes of Omri
And all the works of the house of Ahab are observed;
And in their devices you walk.
Therefore I will give you up for destruction
And your inhabitants for derision,
And you will bear the reproach of My people.’”
Micah 7
v1-6 “Woe is me! For I am
Like the fruit pickers, like the grape gatherers.
There is not a cluster of grapes to eat,
Or a first-ripe fig which I crave.
The godly person has perished from the land,
And there is no upright person among men.
All of them lie in wait for bloodshed;
Each of them hunts the other with a net.
Concerning evil, both hands do it well.
The prince asks, also the judge, for a bribe,
And a great man speaks the desire of his soul;
So they weave it together.
The best of them is like a briar,
The most upright like a thorn hedge.
The day when you post your watchmen,
Your punishment will come.
Then their confusion will occur.
Do not trust in a neighbor;
Do not have confidence in a friend.
From her who lies in your bosom
Guard your lips.
For son treats father contemptuously,
Daughter rises up against her mother,
Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
A man’s enemies are the men of his own household.
v7-8 “But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the LORD;
I will wait for the God of my salvation.
My God will hear me.
Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy.
Though I fall I will rise;
Though I dwell in darkness, the LORD is a light for me.
v9-13 “I will bear the indignation of the LORD
Because I have sinned against Him,
Until He pleads my case and executes justice for me.
He will bring me out to the light,
And I will see His righteousness.
Then my enemy will see,
And shame will cover her who said to me,
‘Where is the LORD your God?’
My eyes will look on her;
At that time she will be trampled down
Like mire of the streets.
It will be a day for building your walls.
On that day will your boundary be extended.
It will be a day when they will come to you
From Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
From Egypt even to the Euphrates,
Even from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.
And the earth will become desolate because of her inhabitants,
On account of the fruit of their deeds.
v14-20 “Shepherd Your people with Your scepter,
The flock of Your possession
Which dwells by itself in the woodland,
In the midst of a fruitful field.
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead
As in the days of old.
‘As in the days when you came out from the land of Egypt,
I will show you miracles.’
Nations will see and be ashamed
Of all their might.
They will put their hand on their mouth,
Their ears will be deaf.
They will lick the dust like a serpent,
Like reptiles of the earth.
They will come trembling out of their fortresses;
To the LORD our God they will come in dread
And they will be afraid before You.
Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity
And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession?
He does not retain His anger forever,
Because He delights in unchanging love.
He will again have compassion on us;
He will tread our iniquities under foot.
Yes, You will cast all their sins
Into the depths of the sea.
You will give truth to Jacob
And unchanging love to Abraham,
Which You swore to our forefathers
From the days of old.”
July 14 OT/NT readings: Psalms 13-16, Acts 18
We are reading Psalms in the Old Testament reading plan. In this document, I list the Psalms in order of appearance, followed by author (if known), context of the Psalm’s writing (description of context that appear in the Biblical text before some Psalms are quoted), and the Old Testament reading it appears after. Here is that information for today’s Psalms:
Psalm 13, appears as 91st/150 Psalms, authored by David, during his flight from Jerusalem because of the rebellion of Absalom (2 Samuel 13-15), Day 136
Psalm 14, appears as 31st/150 Psalms, authored by David, during the war between the house of David and the house of Saul (2 Samuel 1-4), Day 112
Psalm 15, appears as 57th/150 Psalms, authored by David, after he brought the ark to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5:11-6, 1 Chronicles 13-16), Day 125
Psalm 16, appears as 32nd/150 Psalms, authored by David, during the war between the house of David and the house of Saul (2 Samuel 1-4), Day 112
I am editing this document as we go along, noting excerpts for each of the Psalms in numerical order in the second half of the document. Yesterday we read Psalms 10-12:
prayer for deliverance from the wicked, appears 30th, David, during the war between the house of David and the house of Saul (2 Samuel 1-4), Day 112
“The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him.
All his thoughts are, ‘There is no God.’…The unfortunate commits himself to You; You have been the helper of the orphan. Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer, Seek out his wickedness until You find none. The LORD is King forever and ever….O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear To vindicate the orphan and the oppressed, So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause terror.”
the righteous can trust in the LORD, appears 3rd, David, after he escaped from Saul's household (1 Samuel 18-20), Day 103
“If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?” Trust: “The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD’S throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men. The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates. Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup. For the LORD is righteous, He loves righteousness; The upright will behold His face.”
trust for help from the LORD, appears 90th, David, during his flight from Jerusalem because of the rebellion of Absalom (2 Samuel 13-15), Day 136
“For the choir director; upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David”: “Help, LORD, for the godly man ceases to be, For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men. They speak falsehood to one another; With flattering lips and with a double heart they speak….‘Because of the devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy, Now I will arise,’ says the LORD; ‘I will set him in the safety for which he longs.’ The words of the LORD are pure words; As silver tried in a furnace on the earth, refined seven times….The wicked strut about on every side When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.”
We are reading the book of Acts in the New Testament plan. This account by Luke began after Jesus’ resurrection and before His ascension into heaven. Luke summarized about his Gospel account, “The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen.” Remember Luke wrote about that first account to Theophilus, “having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, [I wrote] it out for you in consecutive order…so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.”
Paul is on his second missionary journey in our reading, with Silas, Timothy, and Luke. They went to Thessalonica, where they shared from the Scriptures in the synagogue for three Sabbaths. Both Jews and Gentiles came to faith, but persecution arose because of the jealousy of the Jews, so Paul and Silas were sent away to Berea. They shared in the synagogue there as well, and “they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” But the Jews from Thessalonica came there as well, again stirring up persecution, so they took Paul to Athens. Yesterday we read that while he waited for Silas and Timothy in Athens, “his spirit was being provoked within him as he was observing the city full of idols.” We read his famous Sermon on Mars Hill.
A summary of the book of Acts, which is really a summary of the rest of the New Testament, including when all the letters of the apostles were written, is here.
Acts 18
v1-4 “After these things he left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them, and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working, for by trade they were tent-makers. And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.
v5-11 “But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, ‘Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.’ Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue. Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized. And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, ‘Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.’ And he settled there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
v12-17 “But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat, saying, ‘This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law.’ But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, ‘If it were a matter of wrong or of vicious crime, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you; but if there are questions about words and names and your own law, look after it yourselves; I am unwilling to be a judge of these matters.’ And he drove them away from the judgment seat. And they all took hold of Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and began beating him in front of the judgment seat. But Gallio was not concerned about any of these things.
v18-21 “Paul, having remained many days longer, took leave of the brethren and put out to sea for Syria, and with him were Priscilla and Aquila. In Cenchrea he had his hair cut, for he was keeping a vow. They came to Ephesus, and he left them there. Now he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he did not consent, but taking leave of them and saying, ‘I will return to you again if God wills,’ he set sail from Ephesus.
v22 “When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and went down to Antioch.
v23 “And having spent some time there, he left and passed successively through the Galatian region and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.
v24-28 “Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John; and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. And when he wanted to go across to Achaia, the brethren encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.”
Dear Lord,
demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ
You are there, in the Old Testament, the only Scriptures they had at that time. We pray for willingness to seek Your word to find You.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.