Acts 22:17

My Notes

What Does Acts 22:17 Mean?

"And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance." Paul recounts receiving a divine vision while praying in the temple — the very place the Jews accuse him of defiling. The trance (ekstasis — ecstasy, a displacement of the mind from its normal state) comes during prayer, in the temple, demonstrating that Paul's relationship with the temple and with Jewish worship was genuine and Spirit-accompanied. The vision (v. 18-21) commands Paul to leave Jerusalem because the Jews won't receive his testimony, and sends him to the Gentiles.

The location is Paul's defense: I was praying IN the temple when God sent me to the Gentiles. My Gentile mission began in your temple, during your worship, through your God.

Reflection Questions

• 1.What has God commissioned you for during your most ordinary worship moments?
• 2.How does the Gentile mission's origin (in the Jewish temple, during prayer) challenge the idea that it's anti-Jewish?
• 3.When has God interrupted your regular worship with an unexpected commission?
• 4.What 'G-word' in your context makes the audience that was listening suddenly hostile?

Devotional

In the temple. Praying. In a trance. Paul's defense before the Jerusalem mob includes this detail: the mission to the Gentiles started in the most Jewish place possible — God's temple, during prayer. The very building they accuse Paul of defiling is where God gave Paul the commission they're angry about.

While I prayed in the temple. Paul wasn't sneaking away from Judaism to start a Gentile movement. He was worshipping in the temple when God interrupted him. The Gentile mission has Jewish DNA — it was conceived in the temple, during prayer, through a vision from the God of Israel. You can't separate Paul's Gentile ministry from its Jewish origin. The root is the temple. The soil is Jewish prayer. The commission comes from Israel's God.

I was in a trance. Ekstasis — the mind displaced from its normal operating mode, receiving direct divine communication. Paul's consciousness was altered by God during worship. The same kind of experience that produced Peter's sheet vision (10:10) and that prophets experienced throughout the Old Testament. The trance isn't New Age mysticism. It's prophetic reception — God taking over the perceptual apparatus to deliver a message that normal consciousness would filter.

The vision says: leave Jerusalem. They won't receive your testimony here. I'll send you far away — to the Gentiles (v. 21). The word 'Gentiles' is where the crowd erupts (v. 22: "they gave him audience unto this word"). Everything Paul said was tolerable until the G-word. Gentiles. The idea that the God of the temple would send a Jew to Gentiles is the unforgivable sentence.

Paul's defense strategy is brilliant: the mission you hate was born in the place you love. The commission you reject came through the worship you practice. The God of the temple sent me from the temple to the Gentiles. Your problem isn't with me. It's with what happened during prayer in your own house of worship.

The Gentile mission is a Jewish product. Born in the temple. Commissioned during prayer. Delivered through a Jewish prophet in a trance. The root is Israel. The fruit is the nations. And the connection between root and fruit is unbreakable.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture