One way of dealing with a difficult opponent is to opt for the character assassination tactic. Most people who hold to a position that has its adversaries have been the victim of this kind of treatment. Yeshua certainly experienced it at the hands of the religious leaders of his day. Character assassination is the tactic of focusing on destroying the person when one can’t compete logically and honorably with the issues they present. It’s the only option left for those who don’t have reason and logic on their side. In any debate, all issues, including the character of the individuals involved, need to be considered. Character is important. A person’s character tells much about their reliability and is a significant factor when searching for the truth.
When it comes to Paul, I have dealt with the substantive issues of his doctrine logically and honorably, and shown where his error has been. In the previous chapter, I showed how Paul lied to the Galatians, the Sanhedrin, and King Agrippa. The fact that he lied was pointed out to show that it was indeed Paul who Yeshua referred to as a false apostle and liar in Revelation 2:2. The fact that Paul outright lied to the Galatians, the Sanhedrin, and King Agrippa is a blemish on his character. Now we need to consider another character flaw concerning Paul. We will see that in spite of the fact that Paul started out with some courage, later, when it finally came to hard choices, Paul went back on his claim that he was willing to die for what he believed and took the cowardly way out. As you will see, it’s the kind of thing no one would ever expect from Yeshua or any of his true apostles.
We have also seen that in spite of Paul’s claims of humility, he was incredibly full of himself, arrogant, and proud. Pride and cowardice always go hand in hand.
When it is suggested that Paul was a coward people ofter ask: “How can Paul be a coward when he died a martyr?” But did he really die as a true martyr? A true martyr is one who is given the choice to recant or die. To choose to die takes true courage and conviction. If one is simply executed as a Christian without having been given a choice, as Paul supposedly was with other Christians in Rome because Nero needed a scapegoat to blame for the fires, no overt courage can be implied. They were doomed. They didn’t have a choice. They couldn’t have opted out if they wanted to. It is one thing to have the courage to be involved in risky endeavors that might lead to death. It is quite another thing how a person responds when the ultimate choice of life or death is presented to them as it was with Paul.
Setting the stage
Near the end of Paul’s journeys, the Messianic believers of the time were in disarray as to what should be done about Paul and his doctrine. The Gentiles, with a few exceptions, generally embraced him and his doctrine. The Messianic Jews on the other hand, with even fewer exceptions, had a very difficult time accepting him. This is born out in Acts when Paul made his final trip back to Jerusalem.
On the following day Paul went in with us to James and all the elders were present. When he had greeted them he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it they glorified the Lord. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many MYRIADS of Jews there are who have believed, and they are ALL zealous for the law; but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. What then? The assembly must certainly meet, for they will hear that you have come. Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow. Take them and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads, and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the Law. But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written and decided that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality.” Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having been purified with them, entered the temple to announce the expiration of the days of purification, at which time an offering should be made for each one of them. And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews from ASIA, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him, crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, the Law, and this place…”
Acts 21:17-28a NKJV
I have already dealt with the issue of the Jerusalem council’s edict concerning the four dietary and sexual purity laws that were to be observed by the Gentile believers…the ones that Paul lied about to the Galatians. But Paul’s message didn’t just affect the Gentiles. Here he is being accused of including the Jews. James’ response is that this rumor had better not be true! When we consider what Paul taught, it is no wonder the Jews took offense. Here are some examples:
“For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek,…”
“Indeed, I Paul say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole Law. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by Law, you have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.”
“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.”
Galatians 3:27,28a; 5:2-6; and 6:15,16 NKJV
Paul has clearly stated in no uncertain terms that in his eyes there is no difference between Jew and Gentile. In fact, he thinks that the only Israel that God recognizes anymore is a spiritual Israel made up of both Jew and Gentile who reject the Law and live by faith. This is exactly what many Protestant Christian churches of today teach! It is also the foundation stone of what is termed “replacement theology” where the church has supposedly replaced the nation of Israel. This belief is responsible for all the Christian anti-Semitism that has been perpetrated against Jewish people throughout history. And if this were not enough, Paul actually did a complete flip flop of the Jewish picture of unclean Gentiles and refer to Jews as dogs and evil workers, and to circumcision as “the mutilation”.
“Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation! For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh…”
Philippians 3:2,3 NKJV
Here are some more anti-Law quotes from Paul’s letters. First, to the Corinthians, he puts himself above Moses by saying;
“Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away“.
2 Corinthians 3:12,13 NKJV
What was “passing away” in Paul’s doctrine was the Law. To the Ephesians in Asia he said;
“…having abolished in his flesh the enmity, that is , the Law of commandments contained in ordinances,…”
Ephesians 2:15a NKJV
With these kinds of quotes available and going around at the time, is it any wonder that James and the elders said;
“…they (the Messianic Jews) have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.”
Acts 21:21 NKJV
That is quite effectively exactly what he taught! Nor is it any wonder the Jews from Asia (which included Ephesus) said;
“Men of Israel help! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, the Law, and this place;”
Acts 21:28 NKJV
Paul’s doctrine was the hot topic of the day. The very fact that he was accused of being against the Law to this extent in his own day does away with the argument of pro-Paul Observant Messianics that Paul’s letters have simply been misunderstood by those of us who reject him. So our position against Paul is far from new. Paul’s contemporaries everywhere were talking about his anti-Law doctrine at that time! Paul’s own statements which we have in writing, as mentioned above, are enough to indict him today! One can only wonder what things he said in person that were never written down. Paul’s contemporaries had him there in the flesh to ask him if he was being misunderstood. Obviously, he wasn’t misunderstood. They understood him perfectly well.
The fact that Paul lost his spine for his doctrine in the face of James’ insistence that he must demonstrate his loyalty to Moses by involving himself in a Nazirite purification rite which culminated in animal sacrifices, is in itself evidence of cowardice. Some Christian teachers have gone so far as to state that if there was anything Paul did wrong, it was in cowing to James here and involving himself in these ‘bloody rites!’ But this is not the worst case of Paul’s cowardice. Not long before this encounter with James in Jerusalem, Paul had boasted that he was willing to die for what he believed and had been teaching.
Paul’s boast of courage and willingness to die in Jerusalem
Remember, the hot topic of the day was Paul’s downright anti-Semitic/anti-Law doctrine. On his way to Jerusalem, he was stopped by several people who told him not to go to Jerusalem. One of these was a man named Agabus.
When he (Agabus) had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.'”
Acts 21:11 NKJV
First, let’s address the idea that Agabus was a true prophet. The test of a prophet is very simple. If what he says comes to pass, then he is for real. If not, then he has spoken from his own heart and he is a false prophet. The account of what actually happened to Paul was quite the opposite of what Agabus had prophesied. Agabus said that the Jews would bind him and give him to the Gentiles. But Acts goes on to record that the Jews were actually trying to kill Paul themselves, and it was the Romans who had to bind him to rescue him from the Jews!
And all the city was disturbed; and the people ran together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple; and immediately the doors were shut. Now as they were seeking to kill him, news came to the commander of the garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. He immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down to them. And when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. Then the commander came near and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains, and he asked who he was and what he had done.
Acts 21:30-33 NKJV
From that point on, the Jews were continually trying to have Paul delivered to them by the Gentiles! Agabus’ prophecy sounds more like what happened to Yeshua because he was bound by the Jews and delivered to the Gentiles. Agabus, was in agreement with Paul and his doctrine, was speaking from his own heart. There have always been those who desire the status and image of a prophet. They claim to get their information directly from God yet try to make predictions that are relatively safe bets. Considering the amount of talk going around concerning Paul, along with the anger that talk was generating among the Jews in Jerusalem, it was safe to bet that Paul was going to run into trouble in Jerusalem. Agabus simply capitalized on the obvious. Since he thought Paul was the best thing to come along since Yeshua, he apparently figured he was in for a similar fate. But he missed it.
Paul’s response to this supposed prophecy is what we’re going to focus on.
And when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
Acts 21:12,13 NKJV
Paul chooses to run
This sure sounds noble and brave …if not boastful, but watch what transpires. We have looked at Paul’s arrest and how the Romans had to rescue him from the hands of the Jews. After this, he was sent to Felix to be protected from the Jews. Ch. 23:23-ch. 24:27 There he stays for some time while Felix procrastinates dealing with Paul. Then Festus shows up and is compelled to do something about Paul. Festus then asks Paul a question.
But Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, answered Paul and said, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and there be judged before me concerning these things?” Then Paul said, “I stand at Caesar’s judgment seat, where I ought to be judged. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you very well know. For if I am an offender, or have committed anything worthy of death, I do not object to dying; but if there is nothing in these things of which these men accuse me, no one can deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar.” Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you shall go!”
Acts 25:9-12 NKJV
Caesar!!! Of all the people to seek justice from, Paul opts for appealing to the likes of Caesar Nero!! Nero! You know…, that bloodthirsty tyrant who murdered untold numbers of innocent people including his own mother! And Paul says that is where he “ought to be judged”! This is the height of hypocrisy for Paul in light of the fact that he had previously instructed the Corinthians not to seek justice from the unrighteous. All of 1 Corinthians 6:1-11 is telling… here are the highlights.
“Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?… If then you have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge?… Now therefore, it is an utter failure for you that you go to law against one another, Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be defrauded?”
1 Corinthians 6:1,4,7 NKJV
I guess it’s easy for Paul to say, but not so easy for him to do. Paul couldn’t even practice what he preached. And whatever happened to, “I am willing to die at Jerusalem“? Jerusalem is exactly where Festus was offering to settle the issue! Paul had made a statement of willingness to be a martyr and “accept wrong“. Paul then tried to explain to Festus that he didn’t deserve to die because he had done nothing wrong. Question: What true martyr ever thought he deserved to die? Can anyone seriously imagine Yeshua saying to Pilate; “I don’t deserve to die. I appeal to Caesar for justice.”? What is equally absurd is the inverse of Paul’s statement. While stating he was unwilling to go to a death he didn’t deserve, he went on and said he was perfectly willing to go to a death he did deserve! Really? How many individuals who know they deserve death are perfectly willing to go quietly to their execution? This entire picture that Paul has painted is stood on its head! True martyrs, like Yeshua, go quietly. The guilty go kicking and screaming all the way! It was the grandest act of cowardice Paul could have made, especially in light of the fact that he had bragged he was willing to die as a martyr. He didn’t go through with it because the bottom line for Paul was the preservation of self and the image he had made for himself among the Gentiles. As was well established previously, Paul was incredibly full of himself. He even placed himself above Moses. No one who is that full of themselves is truly willing to die as a martyr. They might well brag that they are because they are full of themselves… to further uplift their image in the eyes of men. But when it comes down to hard choices, self-centered arrogant men will always play the coward.
Paul knew what to expect in Jerusalem. He knew that the Jews had probably obtained copies of his letters and were preparing to cross-examine him about the things he had been teaching. The Messianic leaders might very well have had it in mind to bring up the quotes mentioned above from his letters to the Galatians and Philippians. And besides all of this, we have to ask: Where in the world was James? What happened to him? Why didn’t James come to Paul’s defense …considering he had “myriads” of observant Messianic Jews following his leadership? If it was all just a simple misunderstanding why didn’t James come to Paul’s rescue and straighten things out? Remember, it was James who put Paul up to going to the temple to prove himself in the first place! I believe a person can legitimately deduce from this that James had somewhere along the line been made aware of Paul’s writings and knew he couldn’t defend him. Paul himself knew full well he didn’t stand a chance against the anger of the Jews. He had been informed by his nephew of a plot where more than forty-two men had taken an oath to not eat or drink until they had killed him. Acts 23:12-16. He also knew that Nero didn’t care a wit about Jewish Law. He might well have had it in mind to bring to Nero’s attention other things he had written… like:
“Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.”… “For he (the ruler) is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually for this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.”
Romans 13:1-2, 4-7 NKJV
This lie would no doubt have been music to Nero’s ears.
Festus’ decree
There have been times when God has grabbed the voice of a King, Prophet, Priest, or even donkey, to seize the moment and make a statement. Festus’ words might well have been one such time. Maybe we should hear the voice of God in the words; “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar, you shall go!” I think God was telling Paul that he would find out just how much justice, let alone mercy, he would find at Nero’s seat for making such a foolish appeal. Consider the following…
Later in the story, while on a ship bound for Rome on his way to be judged by Nero, a storm arose, and just before the shipwreck, Paul had a vision where an angel spoke to him and told him that he and the others would not die. The angel then explained to him that the reason he was to survive the shipwreck was because, “you must be brought before Caesar”. Acts 27:23,24 I don’t doubt that Paul had the vision. But in his arrogance, he naturally put a positive destiny spin on the angel’s words.
So what could possibly have made it a “must” for Paul to stand before Caesar? One can’t help but hear echoes of Festus’ words in the angel’s words. God had indeed spoken through Festus when he said, “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar, you SHALL go!” It was, therefore, necessary for Paul to survive the shipwreck to fulfill this prophetic word. This must be the case because we know just how much justice and mercy Paul found at Nero’s seat. None! Paul was neither successful in converting Nero, nor did he find the justice and mercy he sought. Tradition says that Paul was one of many Christians who were beheaded by Nero following the great fires of Rome. What other purpose then could there have been to make it a “must” for Paul to be “brought before Caesar”?
Back to Outline ——- Next Chapter ——- Home ——– Contact