November
13 Bible Reading: Acts Chapters 22-24
NEVER speak ‘EVIL’ about PEOPLE in AUTHORITY!
And
the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him (Paul)
on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed
wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be
struck contrary to the law?" And those who stood by said, "Do you
revile God's high priest?" Then Paul said, "I did not know, brethren,
that he was the high priest; for it is written, 'You shall not speak evil of a
ruler of your people.'” (Acts 23:2-5)
When Apostle
Paul was brought before the Sanhedrin, in order to substantiate his innocence,
he prefaced his remarks with a statement that throughout his life he had lived with
a good conscience before God. Sitting among the members of the Sanhedrin was the
High Priest Ananias; a brutal and violent man, greedy, open to bribes and was a
collaborator with the Roman echelon. He was infuriated by Paul’s statement as
he looked on Paul as an apostate from the Jewish religion. How could one who had turned from Judaism to Christianity claim such
innocence?
So, Ananias ordered
that the prisoner be slapped on the mouth (which also had happened to Jesus:
see John 18:20–23); an extremely unjust
order since Paul’s trial had only just
started. According to Jewish law, Paul had to be tried and found guilty before
being punished. Thus, Ananias’s command violated Jewish law, which required
judgment to be executed with fairness and justice (see Deut. 25:1, 2).
In his
defense, Paul said that nothing he had done was contrary to the will of God
revealed in the Old Testament. Specifically, his Christian beliefs and conduct
did not compromise his Jewish heritage. Paul however reacted indignantly and
uttered a prophecy of Ananias’s judgment that God would strike him for being
such a whitewashed wall (Matt. 23:27, 28). Outwardly the High Priest seemed
righteous and just; but inwardly he was corrupt. Professing to judge others
according to the law, here he commanded Paul to be struck contrary to the law. History reveals that Ananias was later
assassinated by a Jewish mob in A.D. 66 for his pro-Roman activities!
For any
number of reasons, Paul may not have known that the person who commanded the
soldier to strike him was the High Priest. The Sanhedrin had been assembled on
short notice and perhaps Ananias was not wearing his official robes. It may
even be that he was not occupying the seat customarily assigned to the High Priest.
Whatever the reason, Paul had not
intentionally spoken evil of the duly constituted ruler. It was Ananias who
was out of line when he had Paul slapped; but Paul showed respect for the office
that God had installed.
However, those
who heard Paul were shocked by his scathing rebuke. Did he not know that he was speaking to the high priest? However, Paul
did not defend his behavior, but rather repented of it. When told that he had
unknowingly insulted the High Priest, he quickly apologized for his words,
quoting Exodus 22:28: “You shall not
speak evil of a ruler of your people.” This shows that Paul subjected
himself to God’s revealed will…he had
nothing to hide and his conscience was clear!
This brings
us to the lesson for today: we should
never speak evil about people in authority. In our day and time, we may
have civic leaders (like Presidents,
Governors, Senators, Legislators, Judges, state/city officials, etc.), or, religious leaders (like Apostles,
Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, Teachers, etc.) who are ungodly and corrupt.
Since all authority flows down from God, and they are appointed by God for a
reason, we should neither resist nor speak evil against the authority figures appointed
over us. Rather, we should earnestly pray for them that God would guide them to
take the right decisions and that God would use them as effective instruments
to implement His will upon the earth!
