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When we consider the stedfast way in which the apostle Paul pursued the great
purpose of his life, we miss much teaching and encouragement if we omit a fairly
comprehensive review of the difficulties and problems that beset his path.
When the apostle was bidding farewell to the elders of Ephesus, he referred to one of
the elements of severe trial that had marked his pathway. Speaking of the ministry that
was then closing he says:--
"Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been
with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears,
and the temptations which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews" (Acts 20: 18, 19).
The treatment he received at the hands of the Jews figures prominently in the list of
sufferings that pertained to his ministry:--
"Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. . . . in perils of mine own
countrymen" (II Cor. 11: 24, 26).
Again in I Thess. 2: 14-16 the opposition of the Jews is mentioned as something the
apostle had already encountered, this being his first epistle. The ninth chapter of Acts
tells us of his conversion, and the deadly opposition of the Jews is seen in the selfsame
chapter:--
"And after that many days were fulfilled, the Jews took counsel to kill him, but their lying
in wait was known of Saul. And they watched the gate day and night to kill him" (24).
In verse 29 we find that Paul
"Spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Hellenists
(Greek-speaking Jews, not Greeks); but they went about to slay him".
In Acts 13:, where the apostle has a foreshadowing of his independent Gentile
ministry, his opponent is a Jew, who seeks to turn away the Gentile deputy from the faith
(verses 6-12). As a result of his preaching at Antioch in Pisidia, the Jews were
"filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul,
contradicting and blaspheming. . . . the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable
women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas,
and expelled them out of their coasts" (13: 44-50).
Leaving Antioch the apostle reaches Iconium, where
"the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected
against the brethren. . . . and when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles, and
also of the Jews with their rulers, to use them despitefully and to stone them, they were
ware of it, and fled unto Lystra and Derbe" (14: 1-6).
The intense hatred that the Jews of Iconium felt against the apostle urged them to
follow the devoted messenger from both Antioch and Iconium, where they
"persuaded the people, and having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he
had been dead" (14: 19).