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death in me. But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto
Caesar; not that I had ought to accuse my nation of" (Acts 28: 17-19).
Let us observe the following features:
Paul still addressed the chief of the Jews as "Men and brethren", a title which, as he
explains in Rom. 9:, belonged to Israel according to the flesh. The great change
wherein "the twain" were created "one new man" had not yet been announced, and Israel
as a nation still stood before God. From Acts 13: 15 it is clear that this form of address
was not necessarily a Christian one, for it was used by the ruler of the synagogue. When
Paul used it for the first time in the Acts, he added, by way of explanation, "children of
the stock of Abraham" (Acts 13: 26); the added words, "and whosoever among you
feareth God", is not an expansion, but addressed to a secondary company. So, in
Acts 13: 38, "Men and brethren" is the mode of address to those who in verse 41 were
to be called "despisers" and, as verse 42 makes clear, were "Jews" as distinct from
"Gentiles". We find Peter and James using the same form of address at the council at
Jerusalem, where none but Hebrew Christians were present. We meet the expression no
more until Paul addresses the Jews in Acts 22: 1, 23: 1, and for the last time in
28: 17. To those who have learned to love and appreciate the hidden beauties of the
Scriptures, it is no surprise to discover that this form of address occurs in the Acts just
twelve times, twelve being most evidently the number of Israel.
The Apostles declared that he had committed nothing against "the people" or the
customs of the fathers. Who, in Paul's estimate were "the people"? There is but one
answer; Israel. In the same verse where we found the ruler of the synagogue using the
title "Men and brethren" we find the first occurrence in the Pauline section of the Acts of
the term "the people". When the appellation is first used by Paul he expands it, as he did
the other title. He says, "The God of this people of Israel", and, with the exception of
two references, namely Acts 15: 14 and 18: 10, every one of the remaining
occurrences, twelve in number, refers exclusively to Israel. In Acts 28: the
references are pointed:
"Nothing against this people" (Acts 28: 17).
"Go unto this people" (Acts 28: 26).
"For the heart of this people" (Acts 28: 27).
What of "the customs"? Ethos, "customs", occurs in the Acts seven times. In
Acts 16: 21 and 25: 16 it is the "custom" or "manner" of the Romans that is intended,
but in the remaining passages it is used of the peculiar customs of Israel.
It is of great interest to realize that the first occurrence of ethos in the Acts is found in
the charge which brought about the stoning of Stephen, to which Paul had consented.
That this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs
which Moses delivered us" (Acts 6: 14).
The Apostle makes it clear in more passages than one, that those dreadful,
persecuting, days of his earlier life never left his memory, and it would be with humbled