Bible Study Lesson for Acts 26:1-11: Paul's Testimony

This chapter describes Paul's audience before Herod Agrippa and the Roman governor Festus and the end result.

Read Acts 26:1. From this verse it becomes clear that Festus has turned the hearing over to Agrippa and allowed him to be in charge.

Read Acts 26:2-3. It may sound like Paul is trying to flatter Agrippa here, but actually everything he says is the truth. As my commentary pointed out, "as king he controlled the temple treasury and the investments of the high priest, and could appoint the high priest. He was consulted by the Romans on religious matters. This is one of the reasons Festus wanted him to assess Paul." As always, Paul is very much aware of his audience and will tailor this third recorded telling of his testimony based on the fact that Agrippa was familiar with Jewish customs and traditions. He will not, however, speak to Agrippa as if he was a fellow Jew and follower of the Law, as he did when giving his testimony before the crowd in Jerusalem, as described in chapter 22.

Read Acts 26:4. Paul was born and raised in Taurus, then brought to Jerusalem to study with the famous rabbi Gamaliel. The Jews accusing Paul would have been familiar with his history and known that he had been born and raised as a Jew.

Read Acts 26:5. I can't swear to this, but I'm pretty sure Paul is in his early 50s at this point. Certainly middle age. As a young man living in Jerusalem he would have been well known among the Pharisees, probably a "rising star" in their ranks, one would expect. Paul admits this himself in his letter to the Galatians. Read Galatians 1:14. One gets the sense that Paul was a "zealot among zealots" and well known for it.

Read Acts 26:6. In this verse Paul makes it clear that he has not given up or abandoned his Jewish roots. He talks of "what God has promised our fathers", that is, what God had promised the patriarchs and the prophets long ago. And what were some of these promises? The coming of God's kingdom, the Messiah, and the resurrection of the dead.

Read Acts 26:7. Again Paul emphasizes his Jewishness, speaking of "our twelve tribes" and speaking positively of how they earnestly serve God day and night. Anyone who accuses Paul of hating or disrespecting the Jewish people would have a hard time proving that by these statements.

The sad thing is, of course, as Paul points out, it is because Paul takes these hopes literally (specifically Jesus' resurrection, as we'll see mentioned in the next verse) that has brought about this conflict with some of the Jews.

Read Acts 26:8. Here Paul's attention must have shifted from Agrippa to Festus and the other Roman officials present at the audience, as he uses the phrase "why should any of you." As Romans, there was no reason why any of them should believe in the resurrection of the dead, nor actually was it likely that Agrippa and Bernice did either because Agrippa traditionally sided with the Sadducees, appointing them to the positions of high priests. The Sadducees, remember, do not believe in the resurrection of the dead.

What Paul is getting at, I think, is that he is assuming that all present believe in God, or at least some deity. And if God is all-powerful, which is one of the definitions of God, then He can, of course, do anything, including raise people from the dead. Why, he is asking, would you consider that incredible?

Now Paul steps back and begins to describe what he was like before he was converted. Read Acts 26:9. Reading this verse made me wonder, for the first time, where Paul was during Jesus' time on the earth. I can not imagine how he, if he had heard Jesus speak in person, could have hated him so much, knowing what we do now about the kind of person Paul was. I can only guess that he was either too young to have heard Jesus speak or was in Taurus and only came to Jerusalem to study after Jesus' death. I picture a young, fanatical Pharisee which sees a cult growing around another name other than the One True God's and in the same spirit of fanaticism and devotion sets out to stamp this heresy out.

Read Acts 26:10. Based on this verse, particularly the phrase "I cast my vote", people have assumed that Paul must have been a member of the Sanhedrin. That is not necessarily true. It is possible he was appointed to a special commission to persecute Christians and cast his vote for individuals to be put to death in that way. From what I understand the Sanhedrin had the legal right to recommend death, but they could only put a person to death with Roman approval. If this is true, there were more than just Jews involved in the persecution and execution of the believers mentioned here by Paul.

Read Acts 26:11. Paul is showing the level of his fanaticism here, admitting he was obsessed with killing Christians, trying to track them down wherever he could. When it says here that he tried to force the believers to blaspheme there are two possible meanings here. It could mean he tried to get the believers to reject and curse Jesus - which is blasphemy to the Christian - or to publicly state that Jesus is the Son of God, which to the Jews was blasphemy. In any case, Paul had been determined to trap believers however he could.

To be continued...

Sources
Editors. Compton's Interactive Bible (software)
Philip Yancey and Tim Stafford (notes). The Student Bible. NIV Version