Conspiracy against Paul is discovered, and the command not to reveal it.

Acts 23:16-22

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

“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 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. From there, the child would be placed into the hands of those in authority to learn what the child knows.

“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

Click here for more on the conspiracy against Paul from Acts 23:12-15.

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

---

“….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, 3:1