A Divine String Of Events

A Divine String Of Events

God used a Roman emperor to change the life of an Egyptian Jew.

IT ALL began on January 25, A.D. 42, when Claudius became the fourth Roman emperor the day after the assassination of his nephew Emperor Gauis, better known by his nickname, Caligula. Claudius’s accession to the throne was rather unconventional. Agrippa I, the grandson of King Herod the Great and king over northeastern Palestine, happened to be in Rome when Caligula was murdered and was influential in the choice of Claudius as the successor.

Caligula had considered himself deity and had outraged the Jews by ordering a statue of himself to be placed in the Jerusalem temple. Claudius took a different approach toward the Jews, trying not to offend them, no doubt as a reward for King Agrippa’s role in securing the throne for him. At the beginning of his reign, Claudius issued edicts favorable to the Jews, granting them freedom to observe their laws throughout the empire. The only exception to the policy was in Rome, where Jews, because they had become so numerous and were thus considered a threat, were not permitted to assemble.

Later in his reign, however, he expelled all the Jews from Rome. The Roman historian Suetonius reported that Claudius expelled them “for constant rioting at the instigation of Chrestus” (a common misspelling of Christ). If this is a reference to Christ, the riots were about him, not instigated by him.

Two of those expelled from Rome were a Jewish couple named Aquila and Priscilla who had likely become Christians while they were in Rome. They fled to Corinth, where they set up shop in their trade as tentmakers (Acts 18:1-3).

A short time after they arrived in Corinth, the apostle Paul arrived. Paul soon met them, and since they shared the same trade, he lived and worked with them (Acts 18:3). Paul spent almost two years with Aquila and Priscilla, making them among the most well taught of any of Paul’s disciples.

When Paul left Corinth, Aquila and Priscilla accompanied him as far as Ephesus (Acts 18:18-19). There they resumed their tentmaking business and at the same time became leaders in the Ephesian church (1 Corinthians 16:19).

While they were in Ephesus, a Jew named Apollos, an eloquent speaker who knew the Scriptures well, arrived from Alexandria, Egypt. He had learned about Jesus and talked to others with great enthusiasm about him; however, he knew only about the baptism of John the Baptist. He had not yet heard about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and Christian baptism. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him preach boldly in the synagogue, they took him aside and explained the way of God to him more fully (Acts 18:24-26).

As a result of their instruction, Apollos became a mighty preacher of the gospel. He went from Ephesus to Corinth, and there he proved to be of great benefit to the believers. He debated publicly, refuting the Jews with powerful arguments. Using Old Testament Scripture, he convincingly explained to them, “The Messiah you are looking for is Jesus” (Acts 18:28).

And it all began with Claudius expelling the Jews from Rome.

Reflection

Claudius’s persecution of the Jews and Christians in Rome started a divine string of events that prepared Apollos, a Jew from Alexandria, to become one of the great preachers in the New Testament church. In your experience have you seen God bring positive results out of persecution? Even when we aren’t privileged to see immediate results, God is the One who causes everything to work for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28).

The believers who had fled . . . went everywhere preaching the Good News about Jesus.

Acts 8:4