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, Philip had four daughters who had been well brought up. They were un m arried, and 'God had given to them th e ability to present (for th e word “ prophesy” h ere means to proclaim , or preach) th e Word. While P au l for bids women to teach or ru le in th e assembly (1 Cor. 1 4 :3 4 ), he also gives directions as to the manner in which they are to prophesy (1 Cor. 1 1 :5 ). This 'is the only instance in th e Book of Acts in which women are spoken of as being gifted w ith the sp irit of proph ecy. The reason why women should never hold a ruling place, in the church is set fo rth in 1 Tim. 2:12-15. Agabus, th e prophet, comes unher alded upon th e scene. He may have come from Jerusalem to meet Paul.' They had m et in Antioch fifteen years before (Acts 11:28) a t which tim e he prophesied concerning a famine, which prophecy was la ter fulfilled. Agabus takes P au l’s girdle, binds his own hands and feet, and then u tte rs th e prophecy, — “Thus saith th e Holy Ghost.” It was a symbolic act sim ilar to those used by th e Old T estam ent proph ets. Isaiah walked naked and bare footed (Isa. 20 :2 ) and Jerem iah broke th e po tte r’s vessel (Jer. 19:10, 11). Ezekiel drew a tile picture of th e siege of Jerusalem , (Ezek. 4:1-3) cut off his h air, burned and destroyed it. (5 :1 -4 ). Zedekiah made horns of iron (1 Kings 22 : 11 ). The prophecy of Agabus was fulfill ed in th e imprisonm ent of P aul insti gated by th e Jews, and carried out by the Romans. (3 ) A P e rsiste n t Purpose, Vs. 13, 14. “ I am ready” P aul was w arned of th e Spirit con cerning the trials which awaited him in his pilgrim life (Acts 20:22, 23) “ And now, behold, I go bound in the Sp irit unto Jeru salem , not k n ow in g the th in gs that sh all b efall me there; Save th at the H o ly Ghost w itnesseth in e ve ry city, sa y in g th at bonds and afflic tions abide me.” The disciples a t Tyre had th e same
intim ation from th e S pirit (2 1 :4 ) “ And finding disciples, w e tarried there seven d ays; who said to P a u l through the Spirit, that he should not g o up to Jeru salem .” The inference of these friend s was th a t he should not go to Jerusalem in th e face of these predicted sufferings. There has been some difference of opin ion among expositors concerning P au l’s a ttitu d e in th e m atter, some contend ing th a t P aul was w ilfully in ten t ~on carrying out his own plan despite re peated w arnings; others arguing th a t be was carrying out God’s design for his life, and th a t these friends were m isin terp reting th e meaning of the proph ecies. We do not believe th a t P aul was in fallible. He m ight have been over- zealous in behalf of his own people, th e Jews (Rom. 11:1-25), b u t we can no t bu t believe th a t th e real in te rp re ta tion of his actions is to be found in th e ligh t of th e consuming passion which controlled him. He was shown in th e beginning th a t' he m ust sufffer g rea t things for th e Lord’s sake (Acts 9 :1 6 ). Perhaps no other man save the Lord Jesus H imself ever made th e pilgrim journey in th e ligh t of such a revela tion. The outlook to P au l was one of accumulating tria ls to climax in death, and it was th is vision which gave such splendid tone to his whole career. He could always say “ I am ready, no t only to be bound, b u t to die.” Had Paul possessed a coat of arm s, w hat would have been more appropriate th a n th a t of one of th e old fathers— an ox and ox plow w ith the motto, “Ready for ser vice or for sacrifice.” The best comment on P au l’s a ttitu d e is to be found in his own words in 1 Cor. 9:16-27. He was ready to be a Jew to the Jews, or w ithout law to those who were w ithou t; a serv an t to all th a t he m ight gain the more. There is something heroically inspir ing in Paul. Nothing could move him from God’s purpose as he saw it. No
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