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Nevertheless, there must have been those who intended to use Saul’s coming to oppose the church. If he were viewed as a reactionary, a trouble-maker, perhaps there were some unbelievers who thought Saul was too much trouble.
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Were these people as eager as Saul to destroy the church? Did they send for Saul? Or did they somewhat dread his arrival, knowing how zealous he was in his opposition to the church. There would likely be another group of people meeting on the evening before Saul arrived in Damascus-those who did not believe in Jesus as their Messiah, and who eagerly sought the eradication of the church in their city. Ananias is not only surprised by his commission he is resistant to it, at least initially.
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No one, it would seem, was even thinking of what God was about to do. I can believe the saints who gathered to pray would have prayed for the protection of the church in Damascus and for the safety of individual saints, especially the leaders and the most visible Christians. I can believe someone might have prayed that Saul be waylaid, or “terminated,” in some divine act or providential accident (“act of God”). I very much doubt anyone prayed that this Saul might be saved. At least we can say that no one had enough faith to believe it, even as Peter stood at the door, knocking to get in (12:12-17).
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In this occasion, no one seems to have prayed for Peter’s miraculous escape. What do you suppose the saints would have prayed at this special prayer meeting? We are given a little insight from the account in Acts 12 when Peter was imprisoned and it appeared he would soon be executed, as James had already been, and as we would infer Herod purposed to do with Peter (Acts 12:1-4). Let us suppose further that the church had gathered on this particular evening for a time of prayer, prompted by the news that Saul was soon to arrive, with all the necessary legal machinery (that is, the authorization of the chief priests and the Sanhedrin 130) to arrest and extradite 131 the saints who were in the city. Suppose you were a Christian who had just arrived in Damascus, and you had been able to learn the whereabouts of a group of believers. Word was out that Saul would soon be arriving. Damascus, a city some 150 miles to the northeast of Jerusalem, was one such city. Saul went to other cities where he sought to arrest Christians and to bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment. Thus, his opposition to Christ and His church took on a “missionary” spirit. Saul was not content to punish some and to drive the rest from the “holy city.” He did not want to merely contain Christianity or to drive it from Jerusalem he wanted to rid the earth of Christianity and its followers. His career as a persecutor of Christians seems to have begun with Stephen, but it quickly spread to all of the Christians in Jerusalem (Acts 7:58–8:3). Rather, he sought the arrest, trial, conviction, and punishment (with imprisonment the norm and death the ideal, it would seem) of those in Jerusalem. Saul did not agree with his teacher, Gamaliel, on how the Christians should be dealt with, however. A devout Hellenistic Jew, of the tribe of Benjamin, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, Saul was a member of the Pharisees and was taught by none other than Gamaliel, whom we have already met (Acts 5:34-40). 129 By this time Saul has gained a reputation as the ringleader of the movement to make Christianity extinct. Imagine for a moment that this is the week of Saul’s arrival at Damascus.