And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy. Acts 23:12,13
Perhaps the most stridently anti-Christian nation in the world is North Korea. An organization called Open Doors, which tracks the persecution of Christians throughout the world, has the following to stay about North Korea: ‘North Korea is the most dangerous place in the world to be a Christian. The state has an iron grip on its citizens; any who deviate from the two ideologies of ‘Juche’, which points to man’s self-sufficiency, and ‘Kimilsungism’, the god-like worship of the nation’s leading dynasty, are considered enemies of the state. Thousands of Christians are incarcerated in prison camps in North Korea, and while there are many secret believers, they face arrest, disappearance, torture, or public execution if discovered.’ Open Doors notes that despite the efforts of the brutal communist regime in North Korea to stamp out Christianity, there are far more Christians in that country than the 300,000 estimate that most observers report. Communism has always repressed and sought to stamp out Christianity, so the oath that the 40 Jewish conspirators took in our text is just the first in a long line of attacks against the Lord’s people.
The conspiracy mob was serious in their intention to kill Paul. Their opposition was deep and committed. Paul must die, and they were determined that they should be the means of taking his life. We know that there was no possibility of them succeeding in their plot. But if they had, think about the great loss that would have been to the Christian faith. Paul still had some missionary work to do. He had not yet written most of his epistles at this point. So his murder would have meant that untold numbers of people would never have heard the Gospel, and untold numbers of saints would have been deprived of the teachings that Paul passed on to us through his letters. But God’s purposes will never be thwarted by human strategies. The chapter goes on to relate how Paul’s sister’s son got wind of the scheme and reported it to the chief captain. God always has his agents in the right place and at the right time, to disrupt the devil’s plans.
We might be surprised if we knew all of the attacks the devil is launching against the Lord’s people today. Most of them are being launched in secret, so it is difficult for us to know. But the Lord knows. Consider the success that the homosexual community has had in silencing all public objection to their abominable lifestyle. But they have greater successes in view, the silencing of all organizations, religious or otherwise, that would speak out against them, and the destruction of the Bible, which condemns them. Will they succeed? As far as the Bible is concerned, no, they cannot. The Word of God is not bound (2 Timothy 2:9). How will this matter play out? Pray and watch!
Opponents of God can be very powerful and destructive. But they can never thwart the purposes of God, not one little bit! – Jim MacIntosh