Day 58 – November 15, 2023: Acts 25-28 and Psalm 2 and Proverbs 26

We close out Acts with Paul still in prison and taken to Rome on a bit of a wild goose chase. He appeals to the emperor and the rulers that be realize that they can get him out of their hair by sending him on to Rome to meet with the emperor. I love the dialogue that takes place that is supposed to be behind closed doors where they say to each other, supposedly with no one else hearing: “If he hadn’t appealed to the emperor we could have just let him go.” But the converse is also true, if he had not appealed to the emperor then there was nothing preventing then from turning him over to the Jews where he certainly would have been killed.

The voyage to Rome is very eventful, to say the least. They are shipwrecked on Malta, but Paul is able to heal the father of the ruler of Malta, and thereby winning his favor. He gets to Rome and is really not in a dank prison cell, but is allowed to host people and entertain. He does so and preaches the Gospel consistently. We don’t hear about the death of Paul, but we assume that he dies while he is in Rome.

The Psalm and the chapter in Proverbs reminds us of the Providence of God. We consistently make our plans that often have no bearing on the reality that God wants in our life. That is a constant reminder to us that we have to go before the Lord to ask for his guidance and direction before we try to move forward with whatever plans we may have.