LAB168 What To Do When God is Silent
Acts 16:19-31
LAB168 Reading Narratives to See Truths
#God
#narrative
Published June 29th, 2017
Phrase
Notes
Phrase
editing
NT
Acts 16:19-31
esv
God does not intervene
But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they
seized Paul and Silas and
dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.
And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said,
“These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city.
They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.”
The crowd joined in attacking them,
and the magistrates tore the garments off them and
gave orders to beat them with rods.
And when they had inflicted many blows upon them,
they threw them into prison,
ordering the jailer to keep them safely.
Having received this order,
he put them into the inner prison
and fastened their feet in the stocks.
What Paul and Silas Did
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God,
and the prisoners were listening to them,
God Dramatically
and suddenly there was a great earthquake,
so that the foundations of the prison were shaken.
And immediately all the doors were opened,
and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.
Witness and Salvation
When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”
And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas.
Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
phrasing
Notes
Reference: http://www.desiringgod.org/labs/what-to-do-when-god-is-silent Principle for Bible Reading Confirm Your Insights with Scripture After drawing insights from a text, a helpful way to confirm those insights is to recount other Scriptures that affirm or deny what you see. Study Questions How do you typically deal with God not intervening during your suffering? Do any verses help in these seasons? Record all the suffering Paul and Silas endured in Acts 16:19–25 . What was their response? Read Acts 16:25–31 . How do Paul and Silas respond to God’s intervention? Is this your typical response? Observations and thoughts: This is a good passage to know how to read a narrative Start by noticing what happened and slowing down to note the details Notice shifts in what happens. Here it's a shift from bad things, response, good things, response Ask if those responses can be backed up by other parts of Scripture The response of singing and praising in the midst of suffering is something that has corroboration in other parts of Scripture, mainly from Acts onwards: Romans 5:3,12:12, Acts 5:41, Phil 1:29, Questions: I am thinking that up until the Gospels, most if not all suffering was responded to with lament, complaint, grief, sorrow. I think that after the Resurrection, from Acts onward, the idea of rejoicing in the midst of suffering came to the forefront. I would to explore this question more fully.
notes
Comments
Disclaimer: The opinions and conclusions expressed on this page are those of the author and may or may not accord with the positions of Biblearc or Bethlehem College & Seminary.