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Kent Hughes · Citado em PreceptAustin
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Hughes points out , “These people wanted to know this new God only on their own terms. Paul and Barnabas never got to explain the Incarnation because the people were determined to keep them within the boundaries of their religious presumptions. Today too Christ is often made such a captive of men’s presuppositions (what they thing He ought to be or what they want Him to be) that they do not really understand Him.” (Preaching the Word - Acts)
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Hughes adds that “Paul and Barnabas were brave but not foolish. They were born-again, not born yesterday. The Lord protects His children, but He wants us to use common sense. So the missionaries departed.” (Preaching the Word - Acts) And fled to the cities of Lycaonia (Map), Lystra and Derbe (see Map) - They first fled about 24 miles from Iconium to Lystra. They did not stand fast and tall and try to reason with the crowd coming against them. They did not presume upon God to protect them from the mob. They obeyed the command of Jesus which initially referred to persecution in the land Israel, but in principle would apply to this first missionary journey - "But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee (present imperative) to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes." (Matthew 10:23) Arnold adds that "God never wants His people to foolishly throw their lives away when engaged in His service." (Acts 14:1-20 Patterns in Evangelism) It is interesting that Lycaonia means "land of the wolf" because in the city of Lystra would prove to be the land of the "roaring lion" (1 Pe 5:8+) as the Devil prowled around seeking to devour Paul (devour is katapino = swallow up ~ to destroy completely)! Don Stewart addresses the supposed error by Luke in his description that the missionaries fled to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra and Derbe: The passage implies that Lystra and Derbe were cities in the district of Lycaonia (Map) but Iconium was in a different district. Paul and Barnabas went to the different district because it was safe. Later Roman writers such as Cicero contradicted the passage, asserting that Iconium was also in Lycaonia. For years this was used to show the historical unreliability of Acts. Ramsay Discovers That Luke Was Not In Error - In 1910, however, Sir William Ramsay discovered an inscription declaring that the first century Iconium was under the authority of Phrygia from A.D. 37 to A.D. 72. It was only during these years that Iconium was not under the authority of Lycaonia. Not only did this discovery confirm the accuracy of the statement in Acts 14:7, it showed that whoever wrote this passage knew what district Iconium was in at that time. That places the author as an eyewitness to the events. Examples such as this can be multiplied. The conclusion is that Acts is found to be a reliable work of history that correctly depicts life in the first century A.D (See Stewart's complete article Is the Book of Acts Historically Accurate?) THOUGHT - Once again the Bible crushed its critics. The Word of Truth is true and tested (Pr 30:5) and is your trustworthy sword of the Spirit in spiritual warfare as you "joust" for the souls of men. Related resource - Does the Bible contain errors, contradictions, or discrepancies? Lystra was a Roman Colony located about 20 miles south of Iconium according to John Stott was "quiet backwater town.” Essentially, Lystra's population consisted of Roman military veterans, a "retirement center" for that vast army. Other Roman colonies were Antioch of Pisidia,Troas, Philippi, and Corinth. Roman colonies were located at strategic places in the empire along frequently travelled roads, and Lystra was on the Via Sebaste which ran from Ephesus to Sardis to Antioch in Pisidia to Iconium and Lystra, to Derbe, through the Cilician Gates, to Tarsus, to Antioch in Syria, and then to points east and south. Unlike Iconium, which is the modern city of Konya, Lystra now lies in ruins, sadly including some ruins of churches. Wikipedia writes that "There is a present-day village called "Klistra" near Gökyurt, a village of the Meram district of Konya province. Ancient ruins can be seen near Klistra, including a church with a big cross marked on the wall, a winery, house-like buildings, and the ruins of a city located over the top of a hill which is locally called "Alusumas", where another ruined church ruin can be seen. According to local people, the less-visible city was constructed over the hill to hide from enemies of ancient Anatolia. This site is still awaiting excavation." Swindoll - Archaeologists have uncovered evidence to suggest that the town venerated Zeus and Hermes as patron gods: “One inscription records the dedication to Zeus on a statue of Hermes. Another records a dedication to ‘Zeus before the town.’” (Insights on Acts) Below are cities Paul and Barnabas visit after leaving Iconium... And the surrounding region - Probably smaller towns and villages between Iconium and Lystra.
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Hughes says, “The people were half-barbarous.” He adds, “The Romans ruled the land, the Greeks controlled the commerce, and the Jews had little influence” (Acts, 184–85). It was, then, a much different place from Iconium. (Exalting Jesus in Acts) Gangel writes that here at Lystra "the gospel plunges into raw heathenism, the like of which these missionaries certainly never before saw in such primitive form. Surely their residence in Antioch displayed all the wickedness available anywhere in the civilized world. Still, the difference between Antioch and Lystra could be compared to the difference between a capital city like Lima, Peru, and the jungle tribes living two or three hundred miles inland." (See Holman New Testament Commentary - Acts - Page 230). Jack Andrews observes that "Lystra was a city of strange gods (cf 1 Cor 8:5, 6). We live in cities of strange gods today. America is full of strange gods. American’s bow down to the gods of:Pleasure, power, and possessions; Athletes, actors, and automobiles; Greed, gain, and, guiltless living; Sex, shows, and, science; Money, might, and our military. " A. W Tozer said that “Idolatry is of all sins the most hateful to God because it is in essence a defamation of the divine character. It holds a low opinion of God, and when it advertises that opinion, it is guilty of circulating an evil rumor about the Majesty in the heavens. Thus it slanders the Deity. No wonder God hates it.We should beware of the comfortable habit of assuming that idolatry is found only in heathen lands and that civilized people are free from it. This is an error and results from pride and superficial thinking. The truth is that idolatry is found wherever mankind is found. Whoever entertains an unworthy conception of God is throwing his or her heart wide open to the sin of idolatry. Let that person go on to personalize his or her low mental image of the Deity and pray to it, and he or she has become an idolater—and this is regardless of his or her nominal profession of Christianity.It is vitally important that we think soundly about God. Since He is the foundation of all our religious beliefs, it follows that if we err in our ideas of God, we will go astray on everything else..” (from The World: Playground or Battleground?) THOUGHT - What would Tozer say about this land today? Related Resources: What is the definition of idolatry? Baker Evangelical Dictionary Idol, Idolatry Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible Idolatry Hastings' Dictionary of the NT Idolatry 100's of articles on idolatry from Gospel Coalition (opens Google search) Is religious iconography considered idolatry? What is an icon? What are some modern forms of idolatry? Why is idol worship such a powerful temptation? What is the difference between fornication and adultery? - both are used figuratively to refer to idolatry! What is the true meaning of the second commandment? At Lystra a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother's womb, who had never walked - (compare Acts 3:1-11) Luke states the sad state of this man. Note that Dr Luke goes into great detail, for he could have simply said the man was lame, but to emphasis his hopeless, dire state, he adds (1) no strength in his feet, (2) from his mother's womb and (3) had never walked. The lameness was congenital and total. Luke does not tell us where this lame man was seated, but it must have been in a public place, such as a public square or marketplace (agora). It was not at a synagogue because there was none present. If there had been Paul and Barnabas headed straight for the Jewish house of worship. Halakha holds that communal Jewish worship can be carried out wherever ten Jews (a minyan) assemble. And so we can deduce that the Jewish population of Lystra was quite small.
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Hughes illustrates the root idea of parakaleo "to come alongside and encourage" with the following example - I see this exemplified every time my church has a roller skating party, and the parents put their little ones on skates for the first time. Mom and Dad skate with their child, holding on to his or her hands, sometimes with the child’s feet on the ground and sometimes in the air. But all the time the parents are alongside encouraging....[exhortation] is a wonderful gift, and we are to place it at Christ’s feet and be willing to be worn out in its use. Parakaleo always conveys the basic idea of enabling a person to meet some difficult situation with confidence and with gallantry. As