He goes to the city of Ptolemais where they meet up with Philip the Evangelist. It is said that he had three unmarried daughters that prophesied. I remember teaching in the youth group when Leigh-Anne and I did that. One young man said, "That's hot!" and then he got self conscious. I know what he means though... as a young man should, he wanted to go after a woman that loved God more than she loved him, and a woman that was filled with the Spirit would definitely fall into that category.
Another prophetic word comes forth where someone comes and ties Paul's hands and says that he will be bound and given over the the Gentiles. And here is the interesting part. This was a personal, directive prophecy.... it told Paul about where he was going, but it didn't take him by surprise. He already knew where God was leading him. The prophetic word just CONFIRMED what he already knew. He even knew that he was going to die for Jesus. The people begged him not to go, but he knew what God had for him.So Paul goes to Jerusalem... knowing it will threaten his life. He encourages the believers there. There are some men that have just completed a Nazarite vow. They are reminded of the standard that was sent to the Gentiles in a letter....
Things don't go all that well for Paul. He goes and speaks in the city and people start getting angry and making assumptions about him and things he has done or said. Some things are correct and some things are not. The crowd goes wild and they drag Paul outside the gates and begin beating him. He must be thinking that this is the end, but a Roman soldier and his squad comes to the rescue. They can't sort out the truth so they bring Paul into the fortress while they sort it out. They think that Paul is some rebel that took out 4000 assassins or something. Paul explains and then asks to speak to the crowd. This chapter is sort of like a cliffhanger....
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