The Bible Story
Chapter 278 : _Sorcery_. The age of the early church was full of belief in the reality of possession

_Sorcery_. The age of the early church was full of belief in the reality of possession by evil spirits. Sorcery was the casting out of such evil spirits by means of magic. This belief continued for hundreds of years after, both among Christians and others. The belief in magical means of protection against witches, among our own ancestors, was of the same sort.

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_Ethiopia_. The region of the Upper Nile, the territory of the modern Nubia and Abyssinia. Candace seems to have been a t.i.tle of the dowager queens of Ethiopia, as Caesar was of the emperors of Rome.

_Eating with Gentiles_. In order to avoid ceremonial defilement, it was the custom of the Jews never to eat with Gentiles. The early Christians kept their Jewish customs in this respect as in others. Before the close of the first Christian century, however, the custom had been dropped by Christians, along with most other parts of the Jewish ceremonial. By that time the church itself was mostly Gentile.

_"We" portions_. There are certain pa.s.sages in the Book of Acts where the word "we" is used. It is believed that Luke himself, the author of the book, was present when this p.r.o.noun is used.

_The Roman Provincial Government and Army_. The whole New Testament history takes place within the Roman Empire. There was a petty king in Judea, subject to Rome, but the real governor was the proconsul or procurator. These officials were in charge of the various districts of the Empire and Paul frequently came in contact with them. Paul also came in contact very frequently with the Roman army, and some of his strongest ill.u.s.trations are drawn from that organization. Three legions were garrisoned in Palestine--the 5th, the 10th, and the 15th. These legions corresponded to our brigade, mustering about 6,000 infantry and a detachment of cavalry. The legion was divided into ten companies of 600 men called cohorts. These also had names, and reference is made to the Italian and the Augustan cohorts. The captain of a cohort was called a centurion. It is probable that the troops under whose escort Paul went to Rome were a part of the Praetorian Guard, the emperor's special soldiers stationed at Rome and rarely sent to the provinces.

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_Prison_. The Roman prison had usually three parts: the outer part, where the prisoners had light and air; the inner part, shut off by iron gates and bars, more secure than the outer part; and a dungeon, probably a place of execution. The sufferings and barbarities of all ancient prisons were such as would not be allowed to-day.

_Cyprus_. The greatest island of the Eastern Mediterranean. The seat of government was Paphos, though Salamis, the seaport, was the largest and most important town. Many Jews were in the island. Copper, which word comes from Cyprus, was mined there from early time, and in all ancient history the island was an important place.

_Galatia_ was the name both of an ancient kingdom, and, in the time of Paul, of a Roman province. There is a difference of opinion as to which is its meaning in the New Testament. If it is used for the old kingdom only, the cities of Galatia are in the north central part of Asia Minor; Ancyra and Tavium are cities not mentioned in the New Testament. If it is used for the new Roman province, as seems probable to many, the cities are in the southern part of Asia Minor, Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, towns often mentioned in Acts.

_Troas_. An important s.h.i.+pping port, the nearest to Europe of the important Asiatic towns. The Troy of Homer was in this region.

_Macedonia_, the ancient kingdom of Alexander the Great, was at this time under the Romans. At Philippi great battles in the Roman empire had been fought, and later a group of Romans settled, making the place a colony, with certain important privileges for its citizens. Thessalonica was an important seaport, the outlet for the products of a large section of country. It had a large Jewish population. The modern town, under the name Salonica, is still a port of some importance. Berea, about fifty miles southwest of Thessalonica, was the center of a large, fertile district, and had an important local trade.

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_Asia_ is used in Acts to mean only the Roman province of Asia, which was in the western part of Asia Minor. Its capital and largest city was Ephesus. In this city was a temple, so great and beautiful that it was one of the wonders of the ancient world. The image in the temple, however, was not splendid or beautiful. It was a rude, ugly wooden figure, but so highly regarded that the people believed it had actually fallen down from heaven, as the town clerk said in his speech to the people in the theater. The great city is gone now, but ruins of the temple and the large theater are still to be seen.

_Aegean Sea_. Paul sailed back and forth over this sea several times, so that its coasts in many parts must have become very familiar to him.

There is more story connected with its waters than with those of any other sea in the world. Across it the Greeks sailed, in the stories of Homer, to the siege of Troy. The Phoenicians traded in its coasts and islands when Greek civilization was beginning to grow. The famous stories of Greek poetry were all laid on or near its sh.o.r.es. Every famous man of Greece had sailed its waters. Later came the Roman navies, carrying the armies which conquered the world; and now, in the New Testament period, came little groups of men, hiring their pa.s.sage as best they could in the s.h.i.+ps that were continually pa.s.sing to and fro.

The busy merchants and soldiers never stopped to look at them, and if they had, would have cared nothing for them, but these obscure travelers were bearing with them the future religion of Europe and America and the ends of the earth. It is not always the greatest thing that attracts the most attention.

_Tentmaking_. The Jews taught all their children some trade. No matter how much they desired them to become learned in the law, they saw to it first that they could earn their bread by the skill of their hands. Paul was a tentmaker, and very glad he, the learned rabbi, must have been, more than once, that he could earn his own living by manual work, and be free to use his learning as G.o.d gave him opportunity.

_Paul's routes of travel_ were usually along the established lines of commerce. In his last journey to Jerusalem he followed the {497} coasting route from Macedonia to Rhodes, then a route to Phoenicia common for many hundreds of years. Other routes on the Aegean were from Ephesus to Athens; from Troas to Italy, from Ephesus to Italy; from Thessalonica to Athens, and thence to Italy; from Athens to Troas and the Euxine (Black Sea).

_Ancient s.h.i.+ps_. The s.h.i.+p on which Paul sailed, and which was wrecked on the island of Malta, carried 276 persons besides her cargo of grain. She was perhaps 180 feet long and 1,000 tons burden, not large compared with the modern steams.h.i.+p, but still of good size even by our standards. She was about equal perhaps in general dimensions and tonnage to the merchantmen which made the voyage to India in the "fifties." She had no oars like the ancient s.h.i.+ps of war, but depended upon one mast and a huge sail. Possibly more than one sail was raised in light wind, on the mast, and perhaps another small sail, something like the modern jib, was raised at the bow. She was steered by two paddle-like rudders which were thrust through openings in the stern. The single heavy mast and huge sail brought a great strain on the s.h.i.+p's timbers, which were not so well put together as now, and great danger arose from leaking in a heavy blow. The cables which were pa.s.sed around the vessel were intended to draw the planks together and lessen the leak.

_Felix_. A Roman of perhaps somewhat humble origin, governor of Judea.

His wife Drusilla was of Herod's family (see the Table of the Family of Herod). He was not a man of any great ability or character, and his violence against the Jews aroused yet further troubles, until the whole nation was in commotion. Nothing is known of his history after his governors.h.i.+p.

_Festus_. A Roman, perhaps of better character and more ability than Felix. He died after being governor for some years.

_Agrippa II_. (See Table of the Family of Herod.) He was tetrarch of the regions in the north of Palestine, with his capital at Caesarea Philippi. He was interested, as Paul suggests, in {498} Jewish matters, finished building the temple, and tried in vain to keep peace between the Jews and Romans. He died about 100 A.D., the last important member of the family of Herod.

_"I appeal to Caesar."_ This was one of the most important privileges of a Roman citizen. It took the case at once out of the jurisdiction of the local authorities and transferred it to Rome. Unless the appeal was made by a bandit or pirate it could not be denied.

_Crete_. A fertile, densely populated island, famous in Greek legend and story, and, as is now known, one of the great sources of ancient Greek civilizations. It is very mountainous, and the cold wind from its mountains often made sudden changes in the conditions of sailing, as it did with the s.h.i.+p in which Paul sailed.

_Malta_. The traditional place where Paul was s.h.i.+pwrecked is on the east coast of the island, northwest of the present city of Valetta, and is known as St. Paul's Bay. Very possibly the tradition is correct.

_Jews in Rome_. Rome was a great center of all the peoples of the empire, and it is not surprising that Jews, who had already wandered all over the East, had arrived here also. One emperor, Claudius, had banished them from the city, but they had later been allowed to return.

When Paul was in Rome there must have been many Jews there, though there is no means of knowing how many.

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MEMORY VERSES

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MEMORY VERSES

_One for Each Week of the Year_.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastis.e.m.e.nt of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.--_Isaiah 53:5_.

All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.--_Isaiah 53:6_.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty G.o.d, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.--_Isaiah 9:6_

But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. --_Micah 5:2_.

For G.o.d so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.--_John 3:16_.