Saying None Other Things

“For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me. Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come: That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles” (Acts 26:21-23).

The Jews wanted to kill Paul. Why? All he was doing was, “saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come”. In other words, all Paul was preaching and teaching were the prophecies of the prophets of the Old Testament. Stop and think about that for a second. The Jews wanted to kill Paul for preaching what we today know as the Old Testament, which was strictly Jewish. Why would the Jews want to kill him for that?

The answer is simple. The Jewish religion is much more than just the Old Testament. Their religion includes ceremonies, traditions of men, rabbinical writings and much more. Plus, the Jews interpreted the Old Testament differently, often incorrectly, usually in support of, and to the advantage for their Jewish faith.

Paul gives us a perfect example of this misinterpretation. The Apostle proclaims only what Moses and the prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc.) were foretelling; that Jesus Christ would come, be crucified, rise from the dead and be the light of the world and the only pathway to God. This infuriated the Jews, to the point of wanting to kill him, because what Paul was preaching was considered blasphemes. What Paul was preaching was also all true, actually it was history. Remember Paul came after Jesus’s ascension into heaven. The prophecies of Moses and the prophets came true in Jesus Christ. All Paul was saying had already happened. It was recent history. What Paul preached as history was foretold and documented in the Old Testament writings.

But there is something else quite significant when Paul said, “saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come”. It was the content of his preaching, something rarely see even today.

Paul did not deviate from the written word of the Bible. “Saying none other”, Paul didn’t embellish, create, add or subtract from the written word. Neither did Jesus.

“And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him” (Luke 4:14-20).

The scripture that Jesus read was from Isaiah 61.

The Bible shows us how and what Jesus and Paul preached. It was strictly and directly from the pages of scriptures. Jesus and Paul preached to, “both to small and great” and “the people, and to the Gentiles”.

Here Paul is very subtly demonstrating the Jewish mindset at that time. The Jews are called “people” while all others are called “Gentiles”. The word Gentiles is transliterated from the Greek, “ethnos”. It’s where we get the word ethnic from. Ethnos is a reference to a multitude of people, more specifically, it is a reference to heathens.

So in short, the Jewish “people” wanted to kill Paul for preaching the prophecies made by Moses and the prophets. These were prophecies that came true of the death, resurrection and the light of Jesus Christ. Paul preached these truths to everyone, of all statuses and statures, including the heathens.

This is why the Jews wanted to kill Paul. But it still seems a bit odd though, doesn’t it? Why did the Jewish nation consider these things to be just cause to kill Paul? It is important to recognize the devil working within the Jewish nation.

We have a great example of this Pilate at the feast of the governor where it was customary to release one prisoner. Look how the Jews react to the possibility of Christ being set free.

“Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ? For he knew that for envy they had delivered him. Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children” (Matthew 27: 17-18 & 22-25).

The devil had caused envy and rage to permeate the Jewish leaders, Rabbi’s and the Jewish people. It was so obvious that Pilate recognized the uncharacteristic nature within them.

We see the devil working within Peter.

“Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him (Jesus), saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men” (Matthew 16:23).

Demonic possession was common during Jesus’s time. The purpose and goal of the devil was destruction, death and to stop God from illuminating the world through His Son.

“And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way” (Matthew 8:28).

And when the devils couldn’t accomplish their goal on humans, they then worked their deeds of Hell on dumb animals.

“And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding. So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters” (Matthew 8: 29-32).

Reading straight from the Bible and, “Saying none other”, was a common practice. Another example of this can be found in the Book of Nehemiah. Ezra and several scribes and Levites read scriptures to the congregation.

“And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up: And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law: and the people stood in their place. So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading” (Nehemiah 8:5-8).

Do this the next time you go to Church. See how much time is dedicated to “Saying none other”. See how much time is dedicated during the service to actual reading of the scriptures. You’ll find probably a minute possibly two minutes during the entire one hour service.

It would be wonderful to return to the practice the Church used to have where the entire Bible was read through each and every year. The Church had a format and plan of action to accomplish this goal. I have sitting beside me a copy of the 1559 Book of Common Prayer. This book, among other things, sets up a schedule to follow so that everyone can join in and quite literally, be on the same page during the course of the Bible reading year.

I’ll end with this. Few Christians have read the Bible cover to cover, nor do they read the Bible on any regular basis. Few Churches dedicate any substantial amount of time on scripture, but rather most of the time is dedicated to song and dance, fund raisers, ceremonies and at best, lengthy exposition on a verse or two.

This needs to change.

Bill Hitchcock