Translation: King James Version
Key Word: “tribulation” | Greek: “thlipsis” | Meaning: “tribulation, affliction”
A crowd tries to worship Paul and Barnabas as gods, and shortly after, tries to stone Paul to death instead. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Acts 14.
In Iconium, Paul and Barnabas speak boldly in the synagogue, and a great multitude of both Jews and Greeks believe, though the unbelieving Jews stir up opposition against them. Learning of a plot to stone them, Paul and Barnabas flee to Lystra and Derbe, continuing to preach the gospel there. In Lystra, Paul heals a man crippled from birth, and the astonished crowd, seeing this miracle, begins shouting in their own language that the gods have come down in the form of men, calling Barnabas “Jupiter” and Paul “Mercurius,” even bringing oxen and garlands to sacrifice to them. Paul and Barnabas, hearing of this, tear their clothes in horror and rush into the crowd, insisting they are merely men like everyone else, urging the people to turn instead from these vanities to the living God who made heaven, earth, and sea. Even with these words, they can scarcely restrain the people from sacrificing to them. Soon after, however, Jews arrive from Antioch and Iconium and persuade the same crowd to turn against Paul, stoning him and dragging him out of the city, supposing him dead. As the disciples gather around him, Paul rises up and returns into the city, and the next day departs with Barnabas to Derbe, where they preach and gain many disciples. They then retrace their steps back through Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and warning that “we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” They ordain elders in every church before returning finally to Antioch, where they had originally been sent out, reporting all that God had done with them, and especially how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
Within the same short mission trip, Paul went from being mistaken for a god to being stoned nearly to death by the same region’s crowd. Popular opinion swung wildly in both extreme directions, yet neither the worship nor the violence changed Paul’s actual mission or message even slightly.
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