Chapter 1 is prepatory to the witness of the apostles.

Chapter 2 begins that work of being a witness.

During this feast, Jews would come from all over the world to celebrate the promise of the harvest. It was a celebration of freedom and a celebration of the Law. The Jews would come in their caravans, carrying baskets filled with the firstfruits of their crops as an offering to the Lord.

The Jews had come to associate the Feast of Pentecost with the giving of the Law. The rabbis taught that the Law was given to Moses 50 days after the Passover. There were three Springtime Feasts observed by the Jews:

At least to some degree, these men could speak these three languages. They probably did so with a Galilean accent. But now something spectacular began to happen. They began to speak in all sorts of other languages. These were languages with which they were not familiar.

The diversity of tongues had first taken place at the Tower of Babel. It had been the result of sin and judgment. It was a curse. Now something has taken place that overturns sin and judgment. And the curse of languages is reversed by the gift of tongues. Where there was confusion of languages, now there will be order. And where men have lived in darkness, they shall see the light of the gospel.

We often come to this passage and see only the issue of tongues. But if we do that, we will miss what is happening here. Tongues was the outward sign. But to what did this outward sign point? It pointed to the SPIRIT.

Solomon's portico had not been built by Solomon, but was only named after him. It was to the Temple Mount what the Washington Monument is to the Capitol. Located in the outer court - the Court of the Gentiles - it consisted of a series of great colonnades with massive pillars which surrounded the Temple structure.

Every morning and every evening, there were sacrifices offered in the temple. A sacrifice would be offered, an animal slain, its blood applied to the altar before the Temple, and then a priest would enter the Temple in order to offer incense upon the altar. This incense would be fill the temple with a pleasing aroma and would represent the sweet smell of the prayers of God's people ascending to heaven.

There were 24 courses of priests which rotated the duties within the temple so that each course served two weeks each year with all of the courses being at the Temple for the major feast days.

It was the "officers of the Temple" who had arrested Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:52). These were officials who were charged with keeping the peace in the Temple precincts.

The Sadducees were the liberal party within the nation of Israel. Their ranks came mostly from the wealthy aristocracy. The high priest and all of the chief priests in the Sanhedrin were almost exclusively from the Sadducees. They can be best understood when contrasted with the Pharisees.

The apostles had again been arrested because of their persistent preaching. They were again brought before the Sanhedrin and placed on trial. When ordered to cease and desist, they replied that they must obey God rather than men. As the court began its deliberations, one of the members of the Sanhedrin stood and spoke in the defense of the apostles.

We know Gamaliel from other Jewish writings. He was the head of a school of teachers - one of his student was a young man named Saul of Tarsus (Acts 22:3). Tradition has it that he was the grandson of Hillel. He would later go on to become the president of the Sanhedrin. He is often quoted in the Mishnah, that body of oral tradition of wisdom which has been passed down by the Jews. His forte was in the practical and his advice always shows a strong degree of common sense.

In this case, Gamaliel calls for restraint on the part of the court. He urges them to take a "wait and see" approach to Christianity.

Damascus is located in a high plain 2200 feet above sea level. It is surrounded on three sides by mountains. The lowlands toward the east give way to marshy lakes and low hills after which comes the desert. Although the rainfall is only 10 inches a year, rivers flow down out of the mountains and allow farmers to irrigate their crops, turning Damascus into an oasis in the surrounding desert.

Damascus was an old city, going back as early as 4000 B.C. It has gone by a variety of names including Sham - some have suggested that this is derived from Shem, one of the sons of Noah. The Ebla Tablets make reference to the city of Dimaski. It had served as the capital of the Aramaean Kingdom during the Old Testament times and for a time served as the seat of the Roman proconsul.

Damascus was technically a part of the Decopolis - one of the ten "free cities" to the east of the Sea of Galilee. It served as something of a boarder outpost in that there were few Roman holdings to the east. It stood as one of the boarder cities of the Roman Empire. Because of this, there were other kingdoms which were able to exert a strong influence in Damascus. Among these was the Nabatean Kingdom of Aretes (2 Corinthians 11:32).

Throughout his early career, we read of Saul. Then in Acts 13:9 we read about Saul, who was also known as Paul. From this time onward, only the name "Paul" is used. What brought about this change.

It has been customary to think that Paul CHANGED his name from its original "Saul" to "Paul" so that he could better identify with the Gentiles (Saul is a Hebrew name, while Paul is a Latin name). However, I do not believe that this is completely the case. In the days in which Paul lived, all Roman citizens had THREE names.

All Roman citizens possessed three names. Here are a few well-known examples...

- Gaius Julius Caesar

- Publius Cornelius Scipio

As you can see in the above example, PAULUS was a cognomen. It was ALWAYS used as a cognomen. As such, it was a family name.

Although Paul was a Jew, he had also been born as a citizen of Roman (Acts 22:27-28). At some time in the past, one of his ancestors has been "adopted" into one of the families of Rome and given a Roman name.

Thus, when Paul uses this name for himself, he is not making it up. He is merely using one of his names which would serve to better identify himself with the Gentiles. It is rightfully his own name.

Agrippa was a follower of the Jewish ceremonial law and was popular with the people. He sought to increase his popularity by persecuting the early church, putting James to death and arresting Peter. Peter was miraculously released and Herod responded by having the prison guards put to death.

In 44 A.D. Agrippa gave a festival at Caesarea; games were held and prayers were said for the safety and health of Emperor Claudius. The second day began when Agrippa entered the theater wearing "a garment made wholly of silver and of a texture truly wonderful." When the sun shone on this outfit it made him look radiant. The people proclaimed him a god, and he did nothing to stop their flattery.

At that moment, Agrippa looked up, saw an owl perched on a rope above his head, and remembered the second part of the German prisoner's prediction. He immediately began suffering severe pains, and died five days later.

The large island of Cyprus has two ranges of mountains. One follows the northern coastline; the other is to be found at the southwest corner of the island. The ancient designation for the island was Kittim (Genesis 10:4; Numbers 24:24; Daniel 11:30). Our English word "copper" seems to be derived from the land in which this metal was once mined — . Culture on the island had a history in antiquity. The Phoenicians had a colony there and archaeology reflects a strong Mycenaean influence in the 2nd millennia.

In Paul's day, Cyprus was a part of the Roman Empire. The island was governed by its own proconsul, Sergius Paulus (Acts 13:7). Luke tells us that this proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at the teaching of the Lord (Acts 13:12). Sir William Ramsey found an inscription in 1912 in Antioch reading: "To Lucius Sergius Paullus, the younger, one of the four commissioners in charge of the Roman streets..." Ramsay theorized that this might be a relative of the Sergius Paulus of whom Luke speaks.

The entire southern coast of Asia Minor is hemmed by steep mountains that offer a forbidding purchase. There are only two places where these mountains give way to coastal plains. The first place is in eastern Cilicia and the other is here in Pamphylia.

Perga was located eight miles in from the Mediterranean Coast. The reason the city was not built on the coast was because of the history of pirates who had frequented this part of the world prior to the coming of Rome. The city itself was built around a large rocky acropolis which rises 160 feet over the surrounding area.

Archaeological excavations have uncovered a stadium which was able to seat up to 12,000 people. The marketplace was ringed by Corinthian columns.

We are not told why it was the John left the mission team to return to Jerusalem. The fact that Paul did not consider it to be a sufficiently good reason is seen in that he felt that John was disqualified for further mission work when it came time to go out on a second missionary journey (Acts 15:38). Some have felt that it was because of the hostile regions to the north which were notorious for its bandits. Another possibility might have been health reasons.

Strictly speaking, Antioch was not in Pisidia. But it was commonly called Pisidian Antioch to distinguish it both from Antioch in Syria as well as another Antioch in Phrygia.

There is a river valley which runs from down from the central highlands of Asia Minor to the coastal plains of Pamphylia. As you follow the path of the Cestrus River to the central highlands, you find a region of great lakes. It is near one of these lakes that the city of Antioch in Pisidia lies astride the main east-west highway through Asia Minor.

As was the case of many of the cities throughout Asia Minor, Antioch had a mixed population of Phrygians, Greeks, Jews and Latins, the latter who had settled here after having served in the Roman military.

Paul and Barnabas preached in the synagogue on two consecutive Sabbaths. When many of the Jews rejected the gospel, Paul and Barnabas took their message to the Gentiles of the city. This caused a persecution at the hands of the Jews and the two missionaries were banished from the city.

The next stopover took place at Iconium. Located 80 miles from Antioch, Iconium was an ancient Phrygian town that had seen influences of the Greeks and, to a lesser degree, Romans as well as the Jews. It was surrounded by fertile farmlands and forests.

Paul and Barnabas saw converts both from the Jews as well as fron the Gentiles. Again persecution arose so that the two missionaries were forced to move on.

Lystra was 24 miles to the south of Iconium. The town was built on a small hill that rises 100 feet above the surrounding plain and near to two small rivers which water the area. In contrast to Antioch and Iconium which were on the major trade route, Lystra was off the beaten path. It lay eight miles to the south of the main road.

When Paul and Barnabas healed a lame man, the Gentile crowd took them to be an incarnation of Zeus and Hermes, two of the gods of the Greek pantheon. There was an old Phrygian legend that the same two gods had once visited an aged couple who, not recognizing them as gods, had invited them to dinner and had shown them hospitality. In return, they had been delivered from a flood which swept over the area (Ovid, Metapmorphoses 8:626-724). Apparently the people of the area equated the coming of Paul and Barnabas with that myth.

This period of initial popularity did not last. Paul and Barnabas disclaimed any such deified identity and it was not long before a Jewish delegation from Iconium arrived to brand the two missionaries as troublemakers. This time Paul was stoned and dragged from the city and left for dead.

All of the cities which Paul visited during this trip into the interior of Asia Minor were Roman cities. Derbe was the last of these. To the east of Derbe were the Cilician Mountains. This made Derbe a frontier town and off the beaten track.

It was at Troas that Paul had a vision which directed his team to move across the Dardanelles and into Europe.

As you traveled westward on the Egnatian Way, you came to Thessalonica, the Roman capital of Macedonia. It was an old city, having been founded by Cassander in 315 B.C. and named for his wife, the daughter of Philip of Macedon and half-sister of Alexander. It was a port city and had served in its day as the naval base for Macedonia.

During the Roman Civil Wars, Thessalonica had sided with Antony and Octavius against Cassius and Brutus. Because of this, the city had been granted a degree of independence and was ruled by a board of five or six "politarchs" ( ) - they are mentioned as the rulers of the city in Acts 17:6-8.

Paul and Silas came to Thessalonica and, as was their custom, Paul entered the synagogue and began proclaiming Jesus as the promised Messiah. A number of people believed, including Greeks and some of the "leading women."

The Jews responded to these conversions by instigating a mob which dragged their host, Jason, to the politarchs of the city. The case was dismissed and Paul and Silas left town for Berea.

Athens was a thoroughly pagan city. The crown of the city was its Parthenon, dedicated to the city's namesake, the goddess Athena. As usual, Paul began ministering to those within the city's synagogue. But soon he found an audience among the Greeks.

There are two philosophical groups mentioned here who had dealings with Paul in Athens.

The city of Corinth lay astride a narrow isthmus which connected mainland Greece to the Peloponnesian Peninsula. Today there is a canal which has been cut through the isthmus to allow ships to pass, and the digging of such a canal had been attempted, but the technology of the day found it too costly of a task. Instead, there was a port located at each side of the isthmus so that cargo could be off loaded at one port and then carried the four intervening miles to the other port. This allowed ships to avoid the long and dangerous passage around Cape Malea at the southern end of the Peloponnesian Peninsula.

Just south of the isthmus was a high plateau known as the Acrocorinth, an acropolis rising to a height of 1800 feet. This was the original site of the city, though Corinth in Paul's day was sprawled out on the plain beneath the plateau. The isthmus put Corinth on the map as the central trading city for all of Greece.

The Romans had destroyed the city in 146 B.C. and it lay abandoned for a hundred years until Julius Caesar ordered its rebuilding in 46 B.C. Under Roman rule, Corinth had now become the capital city for all of Achaia. The Isthmus Games were re-instituted and the Temple of Aphrodite, located at the top of the acropolis, became renown for its temple prostitutes. Notorious for its immorality, the term µ ("to act like a Corinthian") came to refer to an act of fornication.

Archaeological excavations since 1995 have revealed buildings with marble floors and inlaid frescos, fountains and Corinthian columns. The picture is one of extravagant luxury.

This is Paul's first visit to Ephesus. He would spend much more time here during his Third Missionary Journey.

The city of Ephesus was located at the mouth of the Cayster River on the southwest coast of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). There were three major river valleys leading from the west coast of Asia Minor into the high country. Major cities grew up at the entrance to each of these valleys.