Saul – Good Heart
Wrong Head
Lesson 46
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Dealing with
Dissidence
Every group of people,
whether it is religious or political,
faces dissidence at some point in
time. If the group does not remove defiant
dissidents, divisions and dissipation
will ultimately occur. Because
Christians chose to defy the demands
of the Sanhedrin, the Sanhedrin was
forced to punish Christians. They had
no option but to destroy the apostles
and their followers to protect their
religion and their city! There is a
powerful end time parallel here.
During the Great Tribulation,
religious and political leaders will
unite and attempt to destroy the
opposition created by God’s
servants
Divine Authority
Deuteronomy 13
contains the directions God gave
Moses for dealing with dissident
behavior. The chapter is divided into
two parts. The first part concerns
false prophets and the second part
concerns misguided leaders or laymen.
The Sanhedrin used Deuteronomy 13 to
justify their execution of Jesus and
later, they justified their
persecution of the apostles with the
same chapter. There is an end time
parallel here. During the Great
Tribulation, God will confront the
great religions of the world with His
truth. These institutions will not be
able to accept His truth, without
destroying what they stand for, any
more than the Pharisees were able to
accept the teachings of Jesus.
Further, God will confront the
governments of the world with His
laws and the governments of the world
will not be able to deal with the
Almighty within the limits of their
constitutions. Confrontation and
consternation will face everyone.
When Jesus came to Earth the first
time, He came to confront the best
religion and the strongest government
the world had ever seen with His
truth. (Matthew 10:34) Neither could
accommodate Jesus, but there were
individuals within these entities who
received Him as their Savior. To
these believers, He gave the
privilege of being called
“children of God.” (John
1:12) Just before Jesus appears the
second time, the same will be true
again. This world and its
organizations cannot receive Christ.
He is alien. His gospel and His ways
are different. His truth and His law
stand in opposition to the religions
and governments of men. For Jesus to
have complete dominion men must let
go of their power and this loss will
not come without a great struggle.
However, people who do choose to
receive Him will be called
“children of God.”
Deuteronomy 13 –
Part I – Prophets
Notice God’s
instruction to Moses in Deuteronomy
13: “If a prophet, or one who
foretells by dreams, appears among
you and announces to you a miraculous
sign or wonder, and if the sign or
wonder of which he has spoken takes
place, and he says, ‘Let us
follow other gods’ (gods you
have not known) ‘and let us
worship them,’ you must not
listen to the words of that prophet
or dreamer. The Lord your God is
testing you to find out whether you
love him with all your heart and with
all your soul. It is the Lord your
God you must follow, and him must
revere. Keep his commands and obey
him; serve him and hold fast to him.
That prophet or dreamer must be put
to death, because he preached
rebellion against the Lord your God,
who brought you out of Egypt and
redeemed you from the land of
slavery; he has tried to turn you
from the way the Lord your God
commanded you to follow. You must
purge the evil from among you. If
your very own brother, or you son or
daughter, or the wife you love, or
your closet friend secretly entices
you, saying, ‘Let us go and
worship other gods’ (gods that
neither you nor your fathers have
known, gods of the people around you,
whether near or far, from one end of
the land to the other), do not yield
to him or listen to him. Show him no
pity. Do not spare him or shield him.
You must certainly put him to death.
Your hand must be the first in
putting him to death, and then the
hands of all the people. Stone him to
death, because he tried to turn you
away from the Lord your God, who
brought you out of Egypt, out of the
land of slavery. Then all Israel will
hear and be afraid, and no one among
you will do such a evil thing again. (Deuteronomy
13:1-11)
Deuteronomy 13 –
Part II – Any rise of New
doctrine
“If you hear
it said about one of the towns the
Lord your God is giving you to live
in that wicked men have arisen among
you and have led the people of their
town astray, saying, ‘Let us go
and worship other gods’ (gods
you have not known, (then you must
inquire, probe and investigate it
thoroughly. And if it is true and it
has been proved that this detestable
thing has been done among you, you
must certainly put to the sword all
who live in that town. Destroy it
completely, both its people and its
livestock. Gather all the plunder of
the town into the middle of the
public square and completely burn the
town and all its plunder as a burnt
offering to the Lord your God. It is
to remain a ruin forever, never to be
rebuilt. None of those condemned
things shall be found in your hands,
so that the Lord will turn from his
fierce anger; he will show you mercy,
have compassion on you, and increase
your numbers, as he promised on oath
to your forefathers, because you obey
the Lord your God, keeping all his
commands that I am giving you today
and doing what is right in his
eyes.” (Deuteronomy
13:12-18)
Some people today read
these and other verses within the Old
Testament and conclude that the God
of the Old Testament is not the God
of the New Testament! In fact, people
often present verses like these to
demonstrate that the Old Testament
had to be nailed to the cross.
However, it is important to remember
that these words were given and
meant to be applied with the
context of a theocracy – that
is, during the time when God Himself
ruled over Israel. God gave these
instructions to Moses because no
other gods would be tolerated as long
as He ruled over Israel! Therefore,
any deviation or allegiance to
another god was an act of defiance
against Jehovah. In this setting, it
is understandable that total
destruction was the only solution for
open defiance against God.
Unfortunately, the Pharisees in
Saul’s day presumed they were
operating under the principles of a
theocracy and they justified their
actions toward the Christians with
Scripture! The Jews thought they were
doing God a service when they
persecuted the Christians! (John
16:1-3)
Summary of Saul’s
Environment
This was the world
Saul knew as a young man. The
explosive growth of Christianity in
Jerusalem became the focal point for
increasing frustration of the
Sanhedrin. Consequently, the
Sanhedrin used Deuteronomy 13 as a
basis for divine authority (or
so they thought) when dealing with
dissident Christians. As the drama
unfolds, keep in mind the year is a.
A.D. 34 and Saul just graduated from
the school of the Pharisees….
Stephen Condemned and
Stoned
“So the word
of God spread. The number of
disciples in Jerusalem increased
rapidly, and a large number of
priests became obedient to the faith
[and disobedient to the teachings of
the Pharisees]. Now Stephen, a man
full of God’s grace and power,
did great wonders and miraculous
signs among the people. Opposition
arose, however, from the members of
the Synagogue of the Freedman (as it
was called) – Jews of Cyrene and
Alexandria as well as the provinces
of Cilicia and Asia. These men began
to argue with Stephen, but they could
not stand up against his wisdom or
the Spirit by whom he spoke. Then
they secretly persuaded some men to
say, ‘We have heard Stephen
speak words of blasphemy against
Moses and against God.’ So they
stirred up the people and the elders
and the teachers of the law [the
Pharisees], They seized Stephen
and brought him before the Sanhedrin.
They produced false witnesses, who
testified. ‘This fellow never
stops speaking against this holy
place and against the law. For we
have heard him say that this Jesus of
Nazareth will destroy this place
[Matthew 24:2] and change the
customs [the ceremonial system
which] Moses handed down to
us.’ All who were sitting in the
Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen,
and they saw that his face was like
the face of an angel. Then the high
priest asked him, ‘Are these
charges true?’” (Acts
6:7; 7:1, insertion mine)
The members of the
Sanhedrin were well acquainted with
the disciples of Jesus, but Stephen
was a new face. I believe this
incident occurred in the Spring of
A.D. 34 during the week of the Feast
of Unleavened Bread. Jews from
distant places like Cyrene,
Alexandria Egypt, the province of
Cilicia and various places in Asia
had gathered in Jerusalem because of
the required attendance for all the
Jews during Passover. (Exodus 34:24)
In addition to this, the seventy
weeks of Daniel 9 ended just 15 days
earlier with the close of A.D. 33.
Somehow, Stephen and
some of the visiting Jews became
engaged in an aggressive religious
discussion. When the Jews could not
defeat the logic Stephen used from
the Old Testament prophecies, they
secretly schemed to have him arrested
for dissension. When called before
the Sanhedrin, Stephen was anxious to
present Jesus to the leaders of
Israel. Stephen explained why Jesus
predicted the destruction of the
temple by reviewing why the temple
was necessary in the first place. He
started with the call of Abraham,
then the call of Moses and then the
building of the temple by Solomon.
(Acts 7:2-50) I believe Stephen was
leading up to the point that
Solomon’s temple was only a
temporary edifice until Messiah
appeared. At that point, Messiah
would be the temple and the focus of
worship, instead of a physical
edifice. (See Revelation 21:22)
Therefore, the destruction of the
temple was appropriate because (a)
bricks and mortar cannot house a God
as great and majestic as Jehovah, and
(b) Messiah had appeared. To
understand his point, Stephen quoted
Isaiah 66:1,2, “Heaven is my
throne, and the earth is my
footstool. What kind of house will
you build for me? Says the Lord. Or
where will my resting place be? Has
not my hand made all these
things?” (Acts 7:49,50)
Suddenly, Stephen
stopped. He looked around at the 71
members of the Sanhedrin as the power
and presence of the Holy Spirit came
over him. Stephen was shown that his
argument was useless, falling on deaf
ears. He knew that his death was
imminent. The Holy Spirit gave
Stephen words and the Spirit
pronounced bloodguilt upon Israel. “’You
stiff-necked people, with
uncircumcised hearts and ears! You
are just like your fathers: You
always resist the Holy Spirit! Was
there ever a prophet your fathers did
not persecute? They even killed those
who predicted the coming of the
Righteous One. And now you have
betrayed and murdered him – you
who have received the law that was
put into effect through angels but
have not obeyed it.’ When they
heard this, they were furious and
gnashed their teeth at him. But
Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit,
looked up to heaven and saw the glory
of God, and Jesus standing at the
right hand of God. ‘Look,
‘he said, ‘I see heaven
open and the Son of Man standing at
the right hand of God.’ At this
they covered their ears and, yelling
at the top of their voices, they all
rushed at him, dragged him out of the
city and began to stone him.
Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their
clothes at the feet of a young man
named Saul.” (Acts 7:51-58)
Saul Persecutes the
Church
Stephen was the first
Christian martyr. He was the first
victim of an earlier decision the
Sanhedrin had made to destroy all the
members of “The Way.”
Saul was an observer in the courtroom
when Stephen was tried. No doubt Saul
was gratified to see Stephen die,
because he agreed with the Sanhedrin
that all Christians had to be
destroyed or they would destroy
Judaism. AS the members began to shed
their cloaks to stone Stephen, young
Saul saw an opportunity to be of
service. He volunteered to hold the
garments of the executioners –
as I am sure he relished the
excitement of killing a Christian
dissident.
“While they
were stoning him, Stephen prayed,
‘Lord Jesus, receive my
spirit.’ Then he fell on his
knees and cried out, ‘Lord, do
not hold this against them.’
When he had said this, he fell
asleep. And Saul was there, giving
approval to his death. On that day a
great persecution broke out against
the church at Jerusalem, and all
except the apostles were scattered
throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly
men buried Stephen and mourned deeply
for him.” (Acts 7:59-8:2)
It is understandable
that at that moment, Saul’s
heart was not touched by the death of
Stephen. Saul regarded Stephen as a
defiant dissident. For just such
occasions, Jesus warned His disciples
about the blindness of religion, “They
will put you out of the synagogue; in
fact, a time is coming when anyone
who kills you will think he is
offering a service to God. They do
such things because they have not
known the Father or me. I have told
you this, so when the time comes you
will remember that I warned you. I
did not tell you this at first
because I was with you.” (John
16:2-4) Yet in Saul’s mind,
Deuteronomy 13 left no doubt that the
Sanhedrin was doing the will of God.
The stoning of Stephen was the
fulfillment of what God required.
Saul seized the moment
and used the destruction of
Christians as a way to quickly
advance himself within the Pharisee
party. He volunteered to ferret out
Christians and bring them before the
Sanhedrin. The authorities were quite
pleased that this young man was so
willing to do the “dirty
work.” Saul was an ideologue (a
person who follows an ideology in a
dogmatic way without compromise), and
was perfectly suited to implement
Deuteronomy 13 to the letter of the
law. The religious leaders gave Saul
the necessary permits (to satisfy the
Romans if anyone should care to ask)
and the bible says, “…
Saul began to destroy the church.
Going from house to house, he dragged
off men and women and put them in
prison. Those who had been scattered
preached the word wherever they
went.” (Acts 8:3,4)
As a person might
expect, the name, “Saul of
Tarsus,” quickly became infamous
among Christians. Saul was fresh out
of graduate school. He was bright and
on a fast track as far as his career
in the party was concerned. He was
devoted to legalism – always
observing the letter of the law. He
was so motivated that the suffering
he inflicted on Christians did not
bother him. He was willing to do what
it took to save Judaism and his
tireless actions made him the perfect
for the job.
Here is another end
time parallel. During the Great
tribulation, many good people will
commit the same kind of atrocities
that Saul did, thinking they are
doing a service to God. The parallel
is important to understand, because
when Stephen fell to his knees, he
prayed, “Lord, do not hold
this sin against them.” I
find it interesting that these are
among the final words of Jesus! “…Father,
forgive them, for they do not know
what they are doing.” (Luke
23:34) Why did Jesus and Stephen say
these words when confronting death? I
find only one answer. When God steps
into the affairs of man, there is
confrontation. Truth meets blindness,
but blindness does not know that it
has confronted truth. Human ignorance
and arrogance are such that a person
with a good heart can do things that
are offensive to God.
“Good heart, wrong head.”
Both Jesus and Stephen knew there
were a few good people who were
sitting in judgment against them.
They also knew that if people, like
Gamaliel, who had honest hearts,
could understand God’s truth as
they understood it, they would no be
assaulting them. Instead, they would
be standing with them. Instead, they
would be standing with them.
Therefore, both men expressed love
for their enemies. They asked God to
overlook the ignorance of their
enemies because among their enemies
they knew there were people with good
hearts. Bible history proves that
Saul was one such person!
Saul Meets Jesus
The more Saul chased
the Christians throughout Jerusalem,
the more the gospel spread as they
fled for their lives! Eventually,
Saul heard there were a significant
number of Christians causing the same
kind of problems in Damascus, so “…He
went to the high priest and asked him
for letters to the synagogues in
Damascus, so that if he found any
there who belonged to The Way,
whether men or women, he might take
them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he
neared Damascus on his journey,
suddenly a light from heaven flashed
around him. He fell to the ground and
heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul,
Saul, why do you persecute me?’
‘Who are you Lord?’ Saul
asked. ‘I am Jesus, who you are
persecuting,’ he replied.
‘Now get up and go into the
city, and you will be told what you
must do.’ The men traveling with
Saul stood there speechless; they
heard the sound but did not see
anyone. Saul got up from the
ground, but when he opened his eyes
he could see nothing. So they led him
by the hand into Damascus. For three
days he was blind, and he did not eat
or drink anything.” (Acts
9:1-9)
Saul was traveling to
Damascus, intent on persecuting more
Christians, when Jesus intercepted
the young man by knocking him to the
ground with a brilliant flash of
light. After that brief encounter
Saul was left in a state of shock and
totally blind. He did not know what
to think or do. For the first time in
his short but intense life,
everything that Saul believed in,
everything that he had studied,
everything that he loved was suspect.
Instead of the bright,
self-directing, self important and
self-assured young Pharisee with a
bright future, Saul was blind and
totally confused. All he could think
as he stumbled toward Damascus was
“so, Jesus Christ is God!”
Saul arrived in Damascus in a very
humble state, humiliated beyond
words, and confused. Saul had come to
Damascus to take Christians captive,
but he arrived a prisoner of
blindness. Saul was blind in more
ways than one for the first time in
his life; he saw his blindness –
a rare experience for anyone.
The Lights Come On
“In Damascus
there was a disciple named Ananias.
The Lord called to him in a vision,
‘Ananias! ‘Yes, Lord,’
he answered. The Lord told him,
‘Go to the house of Judas on
Straight street and ask for a man
from Tarsus named Saul, for he is
praying. In a vision he has seen a
man named Ananias come and place his
hands on him to restore his
sight.’ ‘Lord,
‘Ananias answered, ‘I have
heard many reports about this man and
all the harm he has done to your
saints in Jerusalem. And he has come
here with the authority from the
chief priests to arrest all who call
on your name.’ But the Lord said
to Ananias, ‘Go! This man is my
chosen instrument to carry my name
before the Gentiles and their kings
and before the people of Israel. I
will show him how much he must suffer
for my name.’ Then Ananias went
to the house and entered it. Placing
his hands on Saul, he said,
“Brother Saul, the Lord –
Jesus who appeared to you on the road
as you were coming here – has
sent me so that you may see again and
be filled with the Holy Spirit.’
Immediately, something like scales
fell from Saul’s eyes, and he
could see again. He got up and was
baptized, and after taking some food,
he regained his strength. Saul spent
several days with the disciples in
Damascus.” (Acts 9:10-19)
The sincere words of
Ananias touch my heart. He approached
the young man and said kindly,
“Brother Saul.” Let me ask
you a straightforward question.
“What do you call your enemy?
How do you address those who want to
hurt you? Yet, Ananias said,
“Brother Saul.” The most
amazing feature of true Christianity
is the principles of “love your
enemies.” Nothing reveals the
presence and power of God within a
human being like the spirit of
forgiveness. When a Christian holds
no malice or hardness toward an
adversary, the love of God radiates
from the life. “No one has
ever seen God; but if we love one
another, God lives in us and his love
is made complete in us.” (1
John 4:12)
Saul had spent most of
his life in school, preparing himself
to be a Pharisee of the Pharisees.
Now that he was in Damascus, Saul
entered the first grade for a second
time. This time he was studying Jesus
instead of religion. Once his eyes
were opened and his ears able to
hear, Saul’s new teachers were
the ridiculed and uneducated
disciples of Jesus.
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