Shabbat Notes 10-4-2025

Speak up like Paul

 

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Acts 18:1-11 CJB  After this, Sha'ul left Athens and went to Corinth,  (2)  where he met a Jewish man named Aquila, originally from Pontus but having recently come with his wife Priscilla from Italy, because Claudius had issued a decree expelling all the Jews from Rome. Sha'ul went to see them;  (3)  and because he had the same trade as they, making tents, he stayed on with them; and they worked together.  (4)  Sha'ul also began carrying on discussions every Shabbat in the synagogue, where he tried to convince both Jews and Greeks.  (5)  But after Sila and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Sha'ul felt pressed by the urgency of the message and testified in depth to the Jews that Yeshua is the Messiah.  (6)  However when they set themselves against him and began hurling insults, he shook out his clothes and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! For my part, I am clean; from now on, I will go to the Goyim!"  (7)  So he left them and went into the home of a "God-fearer" named Titius Justus, whose house was right next door to the synagogue.  (8)  Crispus, the president of the synagogue, came to trust in the Lord, along with his whole household; also many of the Corinthians who heard trusted and were immersed.  (9)  One night, in a vision, the Lord said to Sha'ul, "Don't be afraid, but speak right up, and don't stop,  (10)  because I am with you. No one will succeed in harming you, for I have many people in this city."  (11)  So Sha'ul stayed there for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.

 

Verse 4 Jew and Gentile:  notice Paul is in the Synagogue on Shabbat trying to convince Jews and Greeks.  Thus letting us know even at that time there were Gentiles that went to Synagogue.  So we too can have Jews in our Church thus goes the saying; “Jew and Gentile, One in Messiah”

 

Verse 5 Urgency to tell the Jews :   Paul considered it very important to try and convince is Brothers of the Jewish faith that Yeshua was the Messiah.  He felt so strong about because the Holy Spirit had pressed it on him to try and persuade them to believe

 

Verse 6 Shook out his clothes:   In Jewish tradition, shaking out clothes symbolizes disassociation, particularly when a message or a place is rejected, signifying a clean break and the rejection of responsibility for the outcome. This practice is described in the Bible, like in Nehemiah 5:13 , where it acts as a witness that the speaker is clean of consequences after their message is opposed. Nehemiah 5:1-13 CJB  Then there arose a great outcry from the common people and their wives against their brothers the [wealthier] Judeans.  (2)  Some of them said, "Counting our sons and daughters, there are a lot of us! Allow us to get grain for them, so that we can eat and stay alive."  (3)  There were also some who said, "We are mortgaging our fields, vineyards and homes in order to buy grain, because of the famine."  (4)  Yet others said, "We have borrowed money for the king's taxes against our fields and vineyards.  (5)  Now our flesh is no different from the flesh of our kinsmen, and our children are the same as their children; yet we are bringing our sons and daughters into bondage as slaves. Some of our daughters have gone into slavery already, and it's beyond our power to do anything about it, because other men have our fields and vineyards."  (6)  When I heard their outcry and the reasons for it, I became very angry.  (7)  I thought the matter over and then took issue with the nobles and rulers. I charged them, "You are lending against pledges, everyone to his brother"; and I summoned a great assembly to deal with them.  (8)  I said to them, "We, to the limit of our ability, have redeemed our brothers the Judeans who sold themselves to the pagans. Now you are selling your own brothers, and we will have to buy them back!" They stayed silent; they couldn't think of anything to say.  (9)  I also said, "What you are doing is not good! You should be living in fear of our God, so that our pagan enemies won't have grounds for deriding us.  (10)  Moreover, my brothers and my servants, I too have loaned them money and grain. Please, let's stop making it so burdensome to go into debt.  (11)  Please! Today! Give them back their fields, vineyards, olive groves and homes; also the hundred pieces of silver and the grain, wine and olive oil you demand from them as interest."  (12)  They answered, "We will give it back. We will require nothing from them. Yes, we will do it, just as you say." Then I called the cohanim and took an oath from them that they would do as they had promised.  (13)  Shaking out the fold in my garment, I said, "May God thus shake every man from his house and from his work who fails to live up to this promise — may he be shaken out like this and made empty." The whole assembly said, "Amen!" and praised Adonai; and the people did as they had promised.

 

It also relates to Tashlikh, the custom on Rosh Hashanah, where a person symbolically casts off their sins by shaking out their pockets near water, though this is a specific ritual and not the same as the prophetic act of shaking off dust from an unwanted place. It also is the same thing as shaking the dust off your feet or sandals in Matthew 10:14-15 NKJV  And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet.  (15)  Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!

 

Verse 7 God-Fearer:  A God-fearer was a Gentile (non-Jew) in the Greco-Roman world who sympathized with and partially observed aspects of Judaism, such as worshipping the God of Israel, attending synagogue services, and following some ethical teachings, without undergoing full conversion, which for men meant circumcision. They were seen as a bridge between paganism and Judaism and were a significant demographic in the early Christian church, providing a model for its outreach to the Gentile world

 

Verse 8 Crispus:  In Acts, Crispus was the ruler of the synagogue in Corinth, Greece, who, along with his entire household, believed in the Lord and was baptized by Paul. He is mentioned in as leaving the synagogue to follow Christ after the non-believing Jews opposed Paul. Paul also references Crispus in 1 Corinthians 1:14, noting him as one of the few people he personally baptized to avoid divisions within the Corinthian church.  

 

Verse 9 Speak up don’t be afraid:  Paul given assurance by the Holy Spirit in Vision to not stop and worry about getting hurt and to speak up.  God gives assurance when speaking of his Holy Word and will protect us.

 

Acts 28:17-31 CJB  After three days Sha'ul called a meeting of the local Jewish leaders. When they had gathered, he said to them: "Brothers, although I have done nothing against either our people or the traditions of our fathers, I was made a prisoner in Yerushalayim and handed over to the Romans.  (18)  They examined me and were ready to release me, because I had done nothing to justify a death sentence.  (19)  But when the Judeans objected, I was forced to appeal to the Emperor — not that I had any charge to make against my own people.  (20)  This is why I have asked to see you and speak with you, for it is because of the hope of Isra'el that I have this chain around me."  (21)  They said to him, "We have not received any letters about you from Y'hudah, and none of the brothers who have come from there has reported or said anything bad about you.  (22)  But we do think it would be appropriate to hear your views from

 

you, yourself; for all we know about this sect is that people everywhere speak against it."  (23)  So they arranged a day with him and came to his quarters in large numbers. From morning until evening he explained the matter to them, giving a thorough witness about the Kingdom of God and making use of both the Torah of Moshe and the Prophets to persuade them about Yeshua.  (24)  Some were convinced by what he said,  (25)  while others refused to believe. So they left, disagreeing among themselves, after Sha'ul had made one final statement: "The Ruach HaKodesh spoke well in saying to your fathers through Yesha`yahu the prophet,  (26)  'Go to this people and say, "You will keep on hearing but never understand, and you will keep on seeing but never perceive,  (27)  because the heart of this people has grown thick — with their ears they barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, for fear that they should see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and do t'shuvah, so that I could heal them." '  (28)  Therefore, let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Goyim, and they will listen!"  (29)  [After he had said this, the Jews left, arguing vehemently among themselves.]  (30)  Sha'ul remained two whole years in a place he rented for himself; and he continued receiving all who came to see him,  (31)  openly and without hindrance proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

 

In Closing Sound the Alarm:

 

Ezekiel 33:1-9 CJB  The word of Adonai came to me:  (2)  "Human being, speak to your people; say to them, 'Suppose I bring the sword on a country, and the people of that country take one of their men and appoint him their watchman.  (3)  Now if, upon seeing the sword coming against that country, he blows the shofar and warns the people;  (4)  then, if the sword comes and takes away someone who heard the sound of the shofar but paid no attention to it, the responsibility for that person's death will be his own — (5)  he heard the shofar but paid no attention, so the responsibility for his death is his own; whereas if he had paid attention, he would have saved his life.  (6)  But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the shofar, so that the people are not warned; and then the sword comes and takes any one of them, that one is indeed taken away in his guilt, but I will hold the watchman responsible for his death.'  (7)  "Likewise you, human being — I have appointed you as watchman for the house of Isra'el. Therefore, when you hear the word from my mouth, warn them for me.  (8)  When I tell the wicked person, 'Wicked person, you will certainly die'; and you fail to speak and warn the wicked person to leave his way; then that wicked person will die guilty; and I will hold you responsible for his death.  (9)  On the other hand, if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he doesn't turn from his way; then he will still die guilty, but you will have saved your own life.