01 - Paul's Conversion -The Itineraries Of Paul
Paul’s Conversion We’ll call them the Itineraries of Paul. But before we go into it, I want to review some of the background of the life of the Apostle Paul. First of all Paul was a Pharisee. He was the son of a Pharisee of the tribe of Benjamin. We find this in Acts 23:6-8: But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question. And when he had so said, there arose a dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees: and the multitude was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both. This was real significant, because the Pharisees believed that there was a resurrection. The Sadducees did not. Paul was not a Pharisee just because he decided to be one; he was born a Pharisee. His parents were Pharisees. A Pharisee was one who was very conservative in Judaism. They were opposed to the Roman rule. They believed in the resurrection. They believed in a lot of other things that the more liberal groups, like the Sadducees, did not believe. The Pharisees, in this respect, were very conservative. Paul was a Pharisee; a conservative. The liberal Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection. They didn’t believe in angels. They didn’t believe in spirits. They believed in, basically, nothing. It’s just like the conservatives today, in the twentieth century. You’ve got the same basic groups. You can divide them like that. Pharisees despised the Roman rule. The Sadducees went along with it. The Pharisees were very much opposed to the Greek culture that had been forced upon them, even to the point that they didn’t like the Greek language and would steer away from the Greek language, which gives you some idea of the language Paul must have spoken. He was a Roman citizen, born in a city that was a Greek town. He may have had some G
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the high priest” – in order to get an audience with the high priest, you’ve got to be pretty far up the ladder. He was trained by Gamaliel. He was a strong follower of the high priest and those about him there. Acts 9:2: And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this [the] way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. He wasn’t just going up there on his own. He was going on an official trip to Damascus. 7 Paul’s Conversion Acts 9:3: And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: Between verses 2 and 3 it’s like a figure. I don’t know the names of every figure. In verse 2 Paul desired of the high priest letters. He went to the high priest and said, “Will you give me an official document to go up to Jerusalem.” Then it never says the high priest gave him the