Acts 21:28

Acts 21:28 says, Crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place.  Verse twenty-nine adds, (For they had seen before with him in the city Trophimus an Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.)  They said he brought Greeks into the temple because they had seen him in the company of Trophimus, an Ephesian.  It does not say they saw them in the temple, but they supposed Paul had brought him in.  Verse thirty continues, And all the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they took Paul, and drew him out of the temple: and forthwith the doors were shut.  Paul found himself where the Holy Spirit had warned him, he would be.  The plan the elders made to have Paul accepted by following teachings other than the gospel failed.  The same will be true anytime we attempt to keep the world happy by changing the gospel.  The failure may not be immediate, but it will be certain.  The city was moved, and the people ran together and grabbed Paul and brought him out of the temple and closed the doors.  If they couldn't keep the undesirables out, they would just keep everybody out. May we never feel so threatened by anyone or any group that we close the doors of the church to keep anyone from getting in.  Evidently, the Jews felt that Paul, or what he was teaching, was more powerful than God.  Otherwise, they would have known that if he were teaching lies, they would pass, and Paul would be forgotten.  Verse thirty-one states, And as they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.  After the Jews seized Paul, they were going to kill him.  While they were doing this, word went up to the chief captain that all the city was in an uproar. They were acting as a mob, and the legal authorities soon heard about it. Their anger kept them from acting rationally, much less as we would expect the people of God, as the Jews had always been, to act.  We today can never afford to be caught up in religious or even political fervor that goes against what God teaches us.  We should always pray before we act.  The Jews may have seen themselves as God's people, but they had not sought His guidance. Verse thirty-two adds, Who immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them: and when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul.  When the chief captain heard what was going on, he immediately took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them.  The people then stopped beating Paul.  I do not remember anywhere in the Bible where it teaches that if someone is doing something against God that a mob is supposed to beat them to death.  Personally, I think even the act of stoning, which was stated as a punishment for some sins, should have been done with sadness and not anger.  Verse thirty-three continues, Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and demanded who he was, and what he had done.  After the chief captain took Paul, he had him bound with two chains and demanded to know who he was and what he had done.  Paul had been told by the Holy Spirit what awaited him in Jerusalem, and now it was happening.  He had been beaten and now he was in chains.  If the Holy Spirit truly reveals to us what is going to happen in our life in the future, we can be sure that it will happen if we are obedient.  Verse thirty-four states, And some cried one thing, some another, among the multitude: and when he could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded him to be carried into the castle.  In answer to who Paul was and what he had done, the mob gave different answers, so the chief captain had him taken into the castle. Verse thirty-five adds, And when he came upon the stairs, so it was, that he was borne of the soldiers for the violence of the people.  Verse thirty-six continues, For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him.  When he was on the stairs, he had to be carried by the guards due to the violence of the people, who were crying away with him.  They still wanted Paul dead without answering who he was and what he had done.  A mob mentality really never looks for answers, only for what it wants.  If we are confronted with a situation that seems to be bringing dishonor to God, we need to prayerfully get the facts, individually and as a group, and seek God's guidance in the situation.