The teaching of the Lord

Acts 13:12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

The incident here describes that the proconsul was astonished at the Lord’s teaching and not the miracle or the power of the Lord. We do not read Paul preaching or teaching in this incident but only his confrontation of Bar-Jesus. We also see that the proconsul was astonished or amazed at this because he saw the Lord’s teaching in this. God does not always teach through sermons or visions only. It is very easy for any person to see God through our wisdom and seeing how we handle things. We read this in Psalms 94:12 where God does not only speak to us directly but also through chastening. Let us understand that some important lessons like bicycle riding or walking cannot be taught using documented words or visions, we need a teacher who is present with us and teaches us. This is very amazing.

 We may think that it was Paul’s anger that made him speak the harsh words, but verse 9 says that Paul was full of the Holy Spirit and looked intently at Bar-Jesus and spoke these. The confrontation was very harsh but the punishment was not that severe. The words used were that he was the son of the devil because this person thought he was son of salvation because of his name. The Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth and if He uses such identification, it is true. A person we think who is a holy advisor and prophet is actually the devil’s son. The problem here is that this person himself did not know that. We can see that Paul gave the same experience as himself (temporary blindness) to him which is a path for salvation. We can very much be in that state thinking that we are perfectly loving, kind and faithful but can we an enemy to all righteousness. Our defense and actions hinder God’s righteousness completely. Paul further calls them villains.

Paul mentions that the Hand of the Lord is upon him, which is a term used at most times as a blessing (Acts 11:21). But here, God comes to discipline. We can see extremes of his hand in Isaiah 51:17. In Job 1:11, Satan wants God to touch Job’s properties, but God instead mentions that I do not want to be a part of this evil, you do it. In Psalms 32:4,5 we read how the Lord’s had was heavy upon David to produce true repentance.

Paul continues to say that he would not see the sun because he is a false prophet and a magician. We read the sun becoming a God in Deuteronomy 4:19. There are stages in falling into worshipping the sun, which is to lift our eyes at, worship and then serve. If we lift our eyes at these objects which are given to us to rule but still we are not to look upon them. We make the same mistakes at pastors and leaders who would have authority upon us. It is important that every person in the Church should look at Christ alone.

Another lesson here is that the sun had been an object of reconciliation at that time. We read in Lev 22:7, Ephesians 4:26 that the sunset marks the end of a day and we have to reconcile before that. But when it becomes a custom to sin and reconcile, this becomes a habit of doing anything and come to the Lord in the evening. That’s why Paul says that you will not see the sun. It is darkness already and so reconcile with the Lord completely now.

Deuteronomy 4:5 says that the Lord teaches so that we would do so in the land we are entering. God wants us to completely become perfect because we are going to heaven to possess it and rule. If we are not disciplined here through his words and his hand, it is impossible for reconciliation. As per Psalm 25:9, if we are humble we receive not just teaching but justice also.

Amen.