Paul Transferred to Caesarea—Heavily Guarded and Detained Without Accusers

Acts 23:23-35

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.

• Gospel of Christ and Christianity are under heavy guard.
• Documentation does not reflect the reality of what is happening to Christianity.
• Held Under Guard Waiting for the Accusers.

Gospel of Christ and Christianity is under heavy guard.
“And he called for two centurions, saying, “Prepare two hundred soldiers; seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at the third hour of the night; and provide mounts to set Paul on, and bring him safely to Felix the governor.” Acts 23:23-24

In the post on Acts 23:16-22, there was a conspiracy to assassinate Paul, while he was under arrest and under the guard of Roman soldiers. The Jewish people and their leaders were stirred up against Paul as they accused him of being in the temple of God unlawfully. The Romans arrested Paul for inciting the riots of the Jewish people [as described in the posts on Acts 21:27-36]. The plan of the Roman commander was to transport Paul away from the Jewish mob and send him about 70 miles away to Caesarea of Judea. That is where Paul would be imprisoned for a little over two years under the watch of Governor Felix, [Acts 24:27] before being sent to Rome. Paul was imprisoned in Rome for two years before his execution, Acts 28:30.

The Roman commander was in charge of the Roman centurions, and each Roman centurion was in charge of 100 soldiers. The centurions were to organize 200 soldiers to escort Paul to Caesarea [the capital of Judea] and away from the Jewish mobs trying to kill him. This would have been two hundred spearmen, 70 on horseback and 130 on foot. The foot soldiers did the ground fighting while the horsemen guarded over the spearmen. With Paul being put on a horse, they all began their journey around 9:00 at night. With low visibility in the darkness of night, any attacks on the Romans, and Paul, would be very difficult. The road from Jerusalem to Caesarea was dangerous territory, with murderous rebels against Romans, and people who would rob and murder those passing through.

Today, there are mobs of people that want the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Christianity to be dead. They are the masses of people of today’s culture who live for the entity that replaces the conscience and spirit to give people what to think, feel, say, and do^. “Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb…” Revelation 13:6-8 The “he” in this verse is the beast of the image and mark of the beast.

Christianity is escorted away from “mainstream” society of today’s culture, which is global. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are escorted to the prison of our private quarters, not to mingle with the society of today’s culture. We are under guard by the “foot soldiers” who are the people of the grassroot culture. They despise hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and work to shut out the word of God. The “horsemen” are the community leaders, managers at work, governing authorities, school administration, politicians etc. who watch over the grassroot “solders”. They ensure that nothing happens to the people of their society and ensure that they are ever ready to shut-out belief in God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

To shut-out the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to shut out the Holy Spirit, and our Lord Jesus is the Light of the world. As the testimony of Jesus Christ is shut out, the darkness comes and no one is able to work to share His Gospel, as Jesus said, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9:4-5

In the spiritual darkness, comes a dangerous land filled with lawlessness. That’s because the Holy Spirit retrains lawlessness and our Lord Jesus is the giver of the Holy Spirit, “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.” 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8 The “he” in this verse is the “man of sin”. Click here for a post on the “man of sin”.

Documentation does not reflect the reality of what is happening to Christianity.
 “He wrote a letter in the following manner: Claudius Lysias, To the most excellent governor Felix: Greetings. This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them. Coming with the troops I rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman. And when I wanted to know the reason they accused him, I brought him before their council. I found out that he was accused concerning questions of their law, but had nothing charged against him deserving of death or chains. And when it was told me that the Jews lay in wait for the man, I sent him immediately to you, and also commanded his accusers to state before you the charges against him. Farewell.” Acts 23:25-30

These verses bring to light that written records do not reflect what is really happening to Christianity. For example, the Roman commander [Claudius Lysias] wrote a letter to Governor Felix to make himself look like a hero to Paul, but what really happened was quite the opposite. Likewise, the records written by the governing authorities of today’s atheistic culture portray themselves as being the savior of Christianity instead of imprisoning the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For the followers of Jesus, the twisted documentation would be like receiving those disciplinary work notes, or negative work reviews, or sour school evaluations, or accused formally of inappropriate conduct in some way or another.

The three truths told by the Roman commander are: 1) He pulled Paul away from the Jewish mobs trying to kill him [Acts 21:26-36]. 2) Paul was an outcast from the culture of Judaism, as found out when he was brought before the two-party council of the Sanhedrin congress [Acts 22:30-23:1-10]. 3) He was transferring Paul to Caesarea for a hearing [Acts 23:23-24], where Paul would be imprisoned for a little over two years [before being sent to Rome where Paul spent another two years in prison and eventually executed]. Today, there are three truths known about we who live for the Gospel of Jesus Christ: 1) The masses of today’s culture, which is global, despises the Gospel of Christ and wants to put it into extinction. Christians are pulled apart from mainstream society. 2) Christianity is an outcast as seen through the congress of the United States, where the values of the Bible are no longer integrated into policies and laws. 3) The Gospel of Jesus Christ is imprisoned to prevent the spread of the testimony of Jesus.

Everything else in the documentation about Paul/Christianity is filed with twisted truths, admission of the truth, and outright lies. The lies are designed to make today’s culture look Godly and upright in the process of imprisoning the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The letter starts off right, that the Roman commander pulled Paul away from the angry Jewish mob, “This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them. Coming with the troops I rescued him.” As verified, “And all the city was disturbed; and the people ran together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple; and immediately the doors were shut. Now as they were seeking to kill him, news came to the commander of the garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. He immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down to them. And when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.” Acts 21:30-32

Today’s atheistic culture lives by the entity that replaces their conscience and spirit to give them what to feel, say, think, and do. This entity gives life to the image of the beast to speak and live through them. They are groomed to the mark of the beast by what they are given to say and do. This entity despises Jesus Christ and His followers, “Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life…” Revelation 13:6-8 The “him” in this verse is the beast of the image and mark of the beast.

The Roman commander wrote, “…having learned that he was a Roman. And when I wanted to know the reason they accused him, I brought him before their council.” The Roman commander implies that he found out Paul was a Roman citizen before he rescued him from the Jewish mob. He said this to twist the timeline to avoid what he really did to Paul, as quoted, “Then the commander came near and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains…” Acts 21:33 This is before he knew Paul was Roman Citizen. During that time, the Roman soldiers prepared to torture Paul by whipping, to extort information from him. After that is when they learned Paul was a Roman citizen, as quoted below,

“…the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks, and said that he should be examined under scourging, so that he might know why they shouted so against him. And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, “Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman, and uncondemned?” When the centurion heard that, he went and told the commander, saying, “Take care what you do, for this man is a Roman.” Then the commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” He said, “Yes.” The commander answered, “With a large sum I obtained this citizenship.” And Paul said, “But I was born a citizen.” Then immediately those who were about to examine him withdrew from him; and the commander was also afraid after he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.” Acts 22:24-28

The documentation of today’s atheistic culture is to twist the timeline of events to make the governing authorities look like heroes in their handling of Christianity. However, they leave out the part where they have put the Gospel of Christ in chains and those who live for Him are scourged by the negative feedback of today’s culture.

The Roman commander was sure to document that he brought Paul before the two-party congress of the Sanhedrin where Paul was judged to be an outcast of the system of Judaism. Even then, the Roman commander implies that he had no desire to put Paul in chains nor to harm him, which is a lie as revealed in the paragraph above. However, the Roman commander did truthfully say that he sent Paul to Caesarea of Judea due to a conspiracy by the Jewish culture to kill Paul. That is where Paul spent a little over two years in prison before being transferred to a prison in Rome, where he was eventually executed.

What has happened to Christianity in today’s atheistic culture and why doesn’t the congress of the United States embrace the Gospel of Christ [on which the United States is founded]? There are no Supreme Court cases to challenge why the educational system bans the teaching of the Bible in classrooms. There are no Supreme Court cases challenging why government policies no longer integrate the values of the Bible in laws and policies. There are no Supreme Court cases challenging why the churches are overrun by those foreign to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There are no Supreme Court cases challenging why Christianity has been locked out of every sector of society. Christianity is basically an outcast from the council of the US Congress and imprisoned by the grassroot culture.

Christianity is kept under guard by today’s governing authorities.
“Then the soldiers, as they were commanded, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. The next day they left the horsemen to go on with him, and returned to the barracks. When they came to Caesarea and had delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him. And when the governor had read it, he asked what province he was from. And when he understood that he was from Cilicia, he said, “I will hear you when your accusers also have come.” And he commanded him to be kept in Herod’s Praetorium.” Acts 23:31-35

The Roman soldiers [about 130 soldiers on foot and 70 on horseback, Acts 23:23-24] brought Paul, by the cover of night, to Antipatris. Antipatris means “for, or against the father” and can be thought of as being a city whose people were either for the Roman Empire, or Anti-patriots against the Roman Empire. All the land between Jerusalem and Antipatris was extremely hostile territory, ideal for laying out ambushes and was filled with murderous rebels and robbers [muggers]. In that environment, the border city of Antipatris would be a mix crowd of those for or against the Roman Empire, but considered a sanctuary city, a place of relative safety, since the violence happened outside of that city. And of course, the Romans kept control of Antipatris.

In today’s culture, there is a lot of violence in the world, riots and protests, clashes between those who despise the formation of the new world order and those who embrace their belonging within the community culture. There are those violent rebels who despise the entity that intertwines within their thoughts, feelings, words and behaviors. They do what they can to aggress and make life difficult for the “woke” society of the new world order. Sanctuary cities are very much under scrutiny. In this environment, Christianity, who embraces peace, meekness, and gentleness are kept under guard by the grassroot culture and the governing authorities. The Salvation message of the Gospel of Christ is kept under guard to prevent the rebels from being born-again. Today’s atheistic culture prefers the untimely death of those they reject and do not want their rejects to live by the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” Galatians 5:22-26

Once past the territory of the rebels, Paul was transported to Caesarea, from the border city of Antipatris, and delivered to Governor Felix. There, Paul would be imprisoned for a little over two years [Acts 24:27]. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are guarded from spreading the Salvation message of Jesus Christ to those who need to hear His life-giving Gospel. We are led to a place that keeps imprisoned the belief in God, the Gospel of Christ, and the presence of the Holy Spirit.

With the imprisonment of Christianity, there is a letter that describes why the Gospel of Christ is being detained. This letter is filled with twisted truths, omitted truths, and flat out lies to make Christianity look like disturbers of the peace while the governing authorities are made to look righteous and Godly [as described in the post on Acts 23:25-30]. The documentation basically says that Christianity 1) Is incompatible with today’s atheistic culture and is the source of turbulence within society. 2) Christianity is not supported by the congress of the United States or any other national congress around the world. 3) Christianity is to be kept imprisoned to prevent the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ within the “woke” culture of the new world order.

In today’s culture, truth is thrown to the ground to give place to the will of the masses of people. These people are living for the entity that replaces the conscience and spirit to give people what to think, feel, say, and do. In essence, this describes why the governing authorities want to know which “province” we are from when it comes to hearing witnesses against us. It gives a whole new meaning to a trial by a jury of our peers. For example, as a Christian, I am automatically found guilty by my peers because I do not conform to the biker culture with drugs, sex, and rock-and-roll. This is the same as Paul being automatically found guilty by his peers of the Jewish culture for spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The followers of Jesus Christ are “imprisoned” because there is no “province” for us, except in the family of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Daniel speaks of truth being trampled to the ground as the will of the masses of people dominate, “Because of transgression, an army was given over to the horn to oppose the daily sacrifices; and he cast truth down to the ground. He did all this and prospered.” Daniel 8:12 The transgression is the denial of the Living God, rejection of Jesus Christ, and the oppression of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Because of that transgression, the army of the global culture is given to the “horn”. The “horn” is the entity that gives people what to think, feel, do and say as it gives life to the image of the beast to speak and live through people everywhere. The army of people are conformed to the mark of the beast by what they are given to say and do. By what they say and do, they oppose the daily devotion given to God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Truth is thrown to the ground through them and prosperity arises from that.

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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