The Plot to Kill Paul—Conspiracy Against Detained Followers of Christ

Acts 23:12-22

• Conspiracy against Paul and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
• Conspiracy against Paul is discovered, and the command not to reveal it.

Conspiracy against Paul and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
“And when it was day, some of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. Now there were more than forty who had formed this conspiracy. Acts 23:12-13

The events and reason leading up to the plot to kill Paul are described in Acts 21:27-36. Foremost, because Paul was teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to the non-Jewish people at that, on top of being accused of defiling the temple of God. Today, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Christians, and all parts of Christianity are being driven to extinction, as described in Revelations 12. Today, that is the plan, or plot, to kill Jesus Christ, His Gospel, and Christians. “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.’” Revelation 12:17

Why is Christianity targeted for extinction by a governing culture that prides itself with humanitarian values? Because they claim the human body, the temple of God, to be their territory and despise Jesus Christ who teaches that we are made to be the temple of the Holy Spirit. “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” 1 Corinthians 6:19 Today’s “humanitarians” live for the entity that intertwines within the thoughts, feelings, words, and behaviors of people. This is the entity “…who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:4 The “he” in this verse is the “man of sin”. Click here for a post on the “man of sin”. Today’s culture is living for the “beast with two horns like a lamb”, which is Satan’s version of the Holy Spirit.

The population of today’s culture are banded together with a vow against the Living God, Jesus Christ, and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Their oath is not to rest from their labor against Christianity until it is extinct from their culture, which is global. The conspiracy against the Gospel of Christ could be called a “silent killer” or a “psychotic lamb”.

“They came to the chief priests and elders, and said, “We have bound ourselves under a great oath that we will eat nothing until we have killed Paul. Now you, therefore, together with the council, suggest to the commander that he be brought down to you tomorrow, as though you were going to make further inquiries concerning him; but we are ready to kill him before he comes near.”” Acts 23:14-15

As we see in news headlines, television broadcasts, through the internet, etc., the masses of people in cities across the globe make demands of the governing authorities. Meanwhile, the governing authorities feed into that from the left and the right. On the left hand they say, “Make good trouble”, and on the right they say “Fight, fight, fight”. When the mobs came against Paul to conspire to kill him, the chief priests, elders, and the whole council were already in favor of that. Likewise, as the population of today’s culture protest in the streets, it involves issues that the governing authorities are already in favor of. Those issues are always in conflict with the message of the Gospel of Christ, putting Christianity in extinction while enlivening the culture empowered by the entity that gives people what to feel, do, say, and think.

The conspiracy against Paul was for the two-party congress of the Sanhedrin to pretend like they were interested in interrogating Paul again. Meanwhile, the mob on the grassroots level would assassinate Paul while he was being brought to the congressional hearing. Likewise, today’s government leaders of the congress put out a public image of supporting Christianity [and all other religions]. Meanwhile, the population on the grassroots levels are driving Christianity into extinction. Already, the Gospel of Christ has been abandoned by the churches, government lawmakers no longer integrate the values of the Bible into laws and policies, the educational system does not allow the Bible to be taught in classrooms, and the Gospel of Christ is not welcomed in any sector of society.

Conspiracy against Paul is discovered, and the command not to reveal it.
“So when Paul’s sister’s son heard of their ambush, he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. Then Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, “Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to tell him. So he took him and brought him to the commander and said, “Paul the prisoner called me to him and asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to say to you.” Acts 23:16-18

Paul was a naturally born Roman citizen, having a Roman father and Jewish mother. We can safely say that his sister was a Roman citizen as well, and her son probably was also. Of course, the son of Paul’s sister would be Paul’s nephew. This was a family living by the loyalty owed to one another as Roman citizens. When Paul’s nephew heard about the conspiracy of the Jewish people to kill Paul, the thing to do was to uncover the plot and to protect his uncle Paul. He told Paul about the plot.

In today’s world, its well-known, although unspoken, that there is a plot to put Christians and the Gospel of Jesus Christ into extinction, as described in Revelations 12. If a child were to come up and say to us, in all of their innocence and good intentions, that something bad is happening to us, it would be quite amusing. Paul’s response was to have his nephew to inform the Roman commander of the plot. As Christians, we would want a child to respect those in authority and to report murderous intentions to law-enforcement. Hate crimes of any type are publicized as being intolerable.

The Roman soldiers did as Paul, the naturally born Roman citizen, said, they brought Paul’s nephew to the Roman commander. As Christians, if a child reported to us that someone plotted a hate crime, we would be obligated to report to law-enforcement what the child said.

“Then the commander took him by the hand, went aside, and asked privately, “What is it that you have to tell me? And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask that you bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire more fully about him. But do not yield to them, for more than forty of them lie in wait for him, men who have bound themselves by an oath that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him; and now they are ready, waiting for the promise from you.” Acts 23:19-21

Paul’s nephew was just a young boy, young enough to where the Roman Commander held him by the hand and gently led him to a private place. In today’s culture, hear in America, we hear “zilch” about conspiracies to place Christians into extinction. Out of sight Christians are out of mind Christians. Any witnesses to a conspiracy against Christianity are questioned privately, away from the ears of others. Basically, any revelations about a conspiracy against the Gospel of Christ are locked away into a private room, never to be heard from again. Children are taught not to talk about such “nonsense”, if they are exposed to hearing about conspiracies against Christians at all.

Children are basically told not to reveal what they know about conspiracies against Christians. “So the commander let the young man depart, and commanded him, “Tell no one that you have revealed these things to me.” Acts 23:22

Hate crimes are not tolerated because it reveals a murderous heart, and at the same time the goal is to drive Christianity into extinction. For this reason, witnesses of the conspiracy against the Gospel of Christ are silenced while at the same time, violent hate crimes are dealt with. In this case, as seen in coming verses, Paul is transferred out of Jerusalem [away from the haters] to be imprisoned in Caesarea of Judea.

The Holy Spirit teaches us what true justice is, which is not imprisoning the Gospel of Jesus Christ while claiming to minimize the effects of hate crimes, “When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.” Proverbs 21:15

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11