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#3.
A Short Survey of the Period.
pp. 159 - 166
It is evident from the statements made at the end of the Acts that the "two whole
years" during which the Apostle stayed in his own hired house brought his imprisonment
to an end. When these two years had expired, Paul must either have been put to death or
set at liberty. In two of the epistles written during these two years at Rome, the Apostle
appears to be confident that he will obtain his release, although quite prepared to magnify
the Lord whether "by life and by death" (Phil. 1: 26, 2: 24). Moreover, if we compare
the record of his imprisonment during these two years with the circumstances indicated in
II Timothy, we shall find evidence to justify the belief that the Apostle was eventually
liberated, and then, after an interval in which he sought to confirm the churches in the
truth, was again apprehended and executed. In Philippians and Philemon the Apostle
anticipates release, but in II Timothy this is by no means the case, and in chapter 4: the
Apostle declares: "The time for my departure is at hand" (II Tim. 4: 6-8).
In the former imprisonment Timothy was with the Apostle (Col. 1: 1; Phil. 1: 1). In
the second imprisonment, however, Timothy is obviously absent, and the Apostle writes
to urge him to use all diligence and come before winter. In the first imprisonment Demas
is with Paul (Col. 4: 14; Philemon 24), but in II Timothy we read that "Demas hath
forsaken me" (II Tim. 4: 10). During his first imprisonment we find Mark in attendance
upon the Apostle (Col. 4: 10; Philemon 24); in the second imprisonment, however,
Timothy is asked to bring Mark with him (II Tim. 4: 11). Before the Apostle's
apprehension Trophimus had accompanied him to Jerusalem (Acts 20: 4; 21: 29); in
II Timothy, on the other hand, the Apostle says that he has left Trophimus, at Miletum
sick (II Tim. 4: 20). During the Apostle's first imprisonment, his friends visited him,
and brought him gifts, and were themselves encouraged to preach the gospel
(Acts 28: 30, 31; Phil. 1: 13-15; 4: 18), but during the second imprisonment he was
forsaken, and we read that at his defence "no man stood with him" (II Tim. 4: 16). In
II Tim. 1: Paul speaks very feelingly of the persistence shown by Onesiphorus in seeking
him out very diligently and finding him (II Tim. 1: 17)--which is in strong contrast with
the conditions of Acts 28: 30 where a very free intercourse is suggested. The earlier
imprisonment was comparatively mild--Rome was still the impartial ruler, but in the
second imprisonment there is severity and Paul suffers "as an evil doer" (II Tim. 2: 9).
Agrippa's statement in Acts 26:: "This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of
bonds . . . . . This man might have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed to Cæsar"
(Acts 26: 31, 32) would have been weighty evidence under the conditions obtaining
during the earlier period, and it was only Nero himself that kept the Apostle waiting so
long for a decision. No such evidence, however, was of any avail when II Timothy was
written. The burning of Rome, and the persecution of the Christians, had already
changed the whole aspect of things, and Paul now belonged to a hated sect.