Acts 17:10-21
10 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 12 Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. 13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds. 14 Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. 15 Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed.
16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” 21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.
Reflection
After the riot in Thessalonica, Paul and Silas moved on to Berea, where they shared the message of Christ in the Jewish synagogue. Luke tells us that the Bereans were “more noble than those in Thessalonica.” The reason? They “received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11).
We see here the goodness of searching the Bible to test the things that we are taught. Teachings that do not line up with God’s Word are not from God and should not be embraced. The Bereans set an example for us by going to the source to make sure that they were getting the truth, which resulted in their eager embrace of the gospel (v. 13).
Revelation 8:1-13
8: When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3 And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, 4 and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. 5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.
6 Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.
7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
8 The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. 9 A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter.
12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.
13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!”
Reflection
John records the blowing of seven trumpets—each of which introduces a judgment scene that warns of the coming wrath of God (Rev. 8:2–9:21). The entire section is similar to the Old Testament exodus story, in which God poured out his judgment on the nation of Egypt. In this case, however, the judgments are poured out upon all those who do not love and follow him.
The judgment of the first trumpet, hail and fire (v. 7), reminds us of the seventh plague on Egypt (Ex. 9:23–25). The second and third trumpets result in the sea turning to blood (Rev. 8:8–9), similar to the first plague on Egypt (Ex. 7:19–21). The fourth trumpet results in darkness (Rev. 8:12), like the ninth plague on Egypt (Ex. 10:21–29). Just as God rescued his people in the Old Testament story of the exodus from Egypt, he will deliver his people at the end of history in a great and final exodus in which sin and death are forever eliminated.
Psalm 119:99
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.
Because they were people of God’s Word, the Bereans not only recognized Paul’s message as authentic, but eagerly embraced the message, seeing that the Scriptures confirmed what they were hearing from Paul’s mouth (Acts 17:13). Pray that your walk with God would be marked with a similar love for his Word and eagerness for the gospel.