The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

Acts 21:28-30, “’Men of Israel, come to our aid! This is the man who preaches

to all men everywhere against our people, and the Law, and this place; and

besides he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy

place.’ 29 For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with

him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. 30 And all the

city was aroused, and the people rushed together; and taking hold of Paul, they

dragged him out of the temple; and immediately the doors were shut.”

It has long been argued whether Paul was correct in taking a Jewish vow.

One thing is certain: Agabus was correct when he warned Paul there would

be trouble if he were to go to Jerusalem. (You’ll have to read all of Acts 21

in order to get the background.) My purpose here is to show that a rush to

judgment is nothing new. It occurred in New Testament days (because the

Jews had seen the Greek Trophimus in the city with Paul, they jumped to

The conclusion that Paul had brought a non-Jew into the Temple area.

Once the mob was aroused against Paul, only the Roman guard could

coral them –which they ultimately did.

Jumping to conclusions is very common. It occurs in every generation and

in every nation on Earth. I distinctly remember when I was accused of

setting a date for the LORD Jesus’ Return. I had never –and have never—

argued for a specific date. But a St. Louis pastor, in whose pulpit I had

preached, fastened upon that fallacy and would not abandon the idea.

There was no mob riot, but had he been of mind, such an accusation

could have put a crimp in my evangelistic ministry. The bottom line is:

get the facts before you come to a conclusion. Even the Roman guard

thought Paul was a trouble-maker because they fastened him in chains–

chains they removed quickly when they learned he was a Roman!

We love you and pray for you daily,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”