DAILY STUDY OF ACTS
MESSAGE FIFTY-SEVEN
Read and Pray: "You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace." (Gal. 5:4)
PURIFIED WITH THE NAZIRITES
We saw that, on one hand, James and all the elders glorified God when they heard the things God had done among the Gentiles through Paul’s ministry (Acts 21:20a). On the other hand, they told Paul that in Jerusalem, thousands of Jews believed and were zealous for the law (v. 20). Moreover, these Jewish believers had been informed about Paul, claiming he taught “to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs of the law” (v. 21).
James and the elders then made the following demand of Paul: “We have four men who have taken a vow; take them and purify yourself with them, and pay their expenses so they may shave their heads. Then everyone will know that there is no truth in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself are also walking orderly and keeping the law” (vs. 23-24).
As we saw, the vow mentioned here is the Nazirite vow (Num. 6:2-5). Being purified with the Nazirites meant becoming a Nazirite with them, joining them in their vow.
According to verse 24, Paul was told to purify himself with the four men who had taken the vow and to pay their expenses. The first thing a Nazirite was required to do was purify themselves in the presence of God. According to the custom of the time, the wealthy often paid the expenses of the offerings needed for a Nazirite to complete their purification. Sometimes poor Nazirites could not afford all the required offerings and needed help. Those who helped them in this way joined them in their vow.
In Acts 21, Paul being purified alongside the Nazirites and paying their expenses meant he joined them, making the four into five. According to the words of James and the elders in Jerusalem, if Paul purified himself with the Nazirites and paid their expenses, all Jewish believers would know that he also observed the law.
But was Paul keeping the law? Certainly not. Nevertheless, James and the elders told him to join the four Nazirites so that the Jewish believers would see he observed it. This was a serious, terrible, and wrong demand made by James and the elders.
In 21:25, James and the elders said to Paul: “As for the Gentiles who have believed, we have written and concluded that they should abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality.” Their statement here has the same old tone as in chapter fifteen. Acts 21:26 says: “Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having been purified with them, entered the temple to announce the completion of the days of purification, until an offering should be made for each one of them.” The completion mentioned here refers to the Nazirite vow (Num. 6:13).
I would like to draw your attention to the words “having been purified.” Here we see that Paul had already purified himself with the four Nazirites. He then took them and, entering the temple, waited with them for the offering to be made for each of them. This waiting is indicated by the word "until." Having purified himself with the four, Paul waited in the temple with them for the priest to come at the end of the seventh day to offer sacrifices for all of them, including Paul.
Enjoy More: Hymn 19
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