Hearing His Voice #131

[Agabus] came over, took Paul’s belt, and bound his own feet and hands with it. Then he said, “The Holy Spirit declares, ‘So shall the owner of this belt be bound by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and turned over to the Gentiles.’”

Acts 21:11

Agabus was known for having a prophetic gift, and he had accurately predicted a famine. Now he warns Paul with a visual illustration and declares that if Paul goes to Jerusalem, he will be arrested.

Some see a couple of minor inaccuracies in this prophetic word—didn’t the Romans, not the Jewish leaders, bind Paul, and didn’t they rescue him rather than receive him from the mob?—while others argue that the story and Paul’s own comments fully support Agabus’s accuracy. Regardless of the details, the gist of the prophecy is true. And startlingly, Paul doesn’t heed the warning.

Careful readers may point out that Agabus didn’t give Paul instructions from the Holy Spirit not to go to Jerusalem. It was the friends hearing this prophecy who pleaded with him to change his plans. Still, Paul accepted the truth of the prophecy and was not deterred. In fact, he seemed to know already that this trip to Jerusalem would come at a heavy price. Even so, it fit with God’s will.

If Paul wasn’t going to heed the warning, why did the Spirit inspire Agabus to say these words? Perhaps because Paul and his friends would later need the memory to reassure them, after Paul’s arrest, that it was foreseen and accepted. Or maybe Paul was being given a genuine choice. Whatever the reason, it’s clear that a prediction from God is not necessarily a prescription from Him—that He sometimes gives us information without telling us the application. When that happens, we keep asking, keep seeking, keep pressing ahead with whatever wisdom and insight we have. We can do so with the confidence that God has seen our circumstances and is sovereign over them.

Holy Spirit, when You give me a glimpse of Your will, help me to know how to apply it. When I have only partial guidance from You, give me wisdom for the details. And give me the strength to face whatever is in my path.