By Rev. A. M. Cattanach, M.A.
Second Series
XII
Iconium, Lystra and Derbe.
Our last study closed with the expulsion of Paul and Barrabus from Antioch, and our present one opens with their arrival in the city of Iconium, the next place of missionary activity on this first and historic journey in the Master’s Service, in sowing the good seed of the Kingdom beside many waters. The Scriptural basis for our study on this occasion is Acts, Chapter 14, Verses 1—20. The three cities, whose names form the title to this article, were situated in the high upland region of Asia Minor, in a district called Lycania; cities of the great inland plateau or plain, as we might describe them. The ‘cities of the plain’, calls vividly to mind, from Old Testament times, the two wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, visited by Divine judgment for their heinous sins, with fire and brimstone from on high. In New Testament times, these three cities of the plain, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe, were visited, not by Divine judgment, but by Divine mercy, when these two heralds of The Cross appeared in their midst, to proclaim the glad tidings of salvation. The words of Psalm 72, verse 6 were fulfilled,
“Like rain on mown grass He shall drop,
or showers on earth that fall.”
The barren wilderness of Iconium, Lystra and Derbe was visited with showers of refreshing from on high, and it is our present wish, as we may be enabled, to meditate a little on each city and on the events which happened there, during this first visit of Paul and Barrabas.
- Iconium : a city divided.
- Lystra : a case of misguided adulation.
- Derbe : a haven after the storm.
Iconium : a city divided.
This populous city lay some fifty to sixty miles south-east of Antioch, rather different in government and civic administration to Antioch—Iconium was a Greek democratic city, whereas Antioch was a Roman colony. It has been observed, and rightly so, that the difference is vividly brought out in the Divine Record, in connection with the different methods of opposition to the Apostles and to their message, which were used in the respective cities. More of that anon, however. Meanwhile, as we see, from the opening verses of Chapter 14, Paul and Barnabas, as was their wont, “went both together into the synagogue of the Jews“, (verse 1), there preached the unsearchable riches of Christ with such unction and power, (“and so spake” says the inspired historians; simple words, which we have paraphrased above—how often there lies behind the simple words of Scripture a wealth of hidden wonder and mystery and power!). That much blessing followed and precious fruit was to be seen (“That a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed” v. 1.). The mixed congregation was a feature of the time, and over and over again we read of them in the Acts: the subject matter of the Apostle preaching, which formed the basis of our last study, is not repeated here, but it may safely be assumed, both in this and similar accounts, that the Apostles preached in the same strain, from place to place, as that recorded in such detail in Chapter 13 of Acts. The historian is concerned hereafter, more with the details of the after-effects of the preaching than the preaching itself, for the purposes of recording to posterity the wondrous deeds done in the name of the Lord Jesus. We too, on this occasion, are called upon to devote some thought to this aspect of the Apostolic witness in Iconium. Let us think then of these two points:
- a) The opposition.
- b) The reaction of the Apostles.
a). The opposition.
As was to be expected, the blessing which followed the preached word was not unmixed. The second verse of the chapter introduces us to what is to become the standard procedure, in every place, and yet there are always differences to be observed: the standard procedure may be uniform, broadly speaking—the opposition of the carnal mind to the things of God; the opposition, specifically, of the Jews to the Cross of Christ; and behind it all, the inveterate hatred of the Prince of darkness to the glorious Gospel of God’s full and sovereign grace. The specific forms which this procedure actually takes, may differ from time to time and place to place. In Iconium, as in other cities along the great trade routes, and throughout the Empire as a whole, we came across Jews and Greeks (religious proselytes, in the main) and also Gentiles, or native peoples of various districts and regions, with whom the Apostles came into contact. It is necessary to distinguish these three sections of the population in our given centre of civilisation. Verse 2 speaks of ‘unbelieving Jews‘ and ‘Gentiles‘—while some Jews believed (verse 1) there were, as always, others who did not. The word translated ‘unbelieving‘ is a strong one, used in the sense of vigorous rejection of the doctrine declared, a definite refusal to obey the voice of Jehovah; a deliberate turning away from the glorious offer of salvation through the Cross. Unbelief today may take more than one form also; let us search our own hearts and let us try and observe, in others under the preaching of the everlasting Gospel, whether their unbelief is of a negative or positive nature, if we might put it thus. Are there not some, who believe not still, whose attitude of mind is that of the man who cares not whether he believes or not, while others seem to go out of their way to make known their positive rejection of the truth? Both are soul destroying—O to realise it. The Gentiles, upon whom these unbelieving Jews were to use their evil influence, were the native inhabitants of Iconium. They were to become the tools of the Jews, in their evil opposition to the Gospel. The unbelief of the latter was to show itself openly and actively: ‘they stirred up the Gentiles and made their minds evil affected against the brethren‘. As at Antioch, so at Iconium, the main target of opposition for the unbelieving Jews, was the human agency, through whom had come to their midst the sweet sound of the ‘good news from the far country’—in this case again, Paul and Barnabas. The use of the word ‘brethren‘—in verse 2, however, shows us that they wished to attack also the newly converted disciples, both Jews and Greeks. Both the preacher and those to whom his message has been blessed, become the objects of Satan’s hatred—is it not so still?
The method of showing that opposition differs, however. At Antioch, as we saw, the Jews had recourse to underhand tactics, whereby to prevail upon the civic authorities to expel the missionaries from the city. At Iconium, however, there was no need to resort to such tactics—if they could prevail upon the mob to take the law into their own hands, then they would have gained their objective. And so it happened—verse 5. The events of verse 5 however, are the natural outcome of the tactics of verse 2; subversive in another way—working immediately upon the minds of the multitude. The terms used are suggestive of evil motives—they ‘stirred up’ the Gentiles or rather, as in the original order, where the mind is the natural object of both verbs, ‘they stirred up and caused the minds of the Gentiles to be evil affected against the brethren‘. When once they had succeeded in prejudicing the minds of the people against the brethren, then all was set for the next stage in their opposition to the Gospel—to leave the people in an assault against the Apostles and their followers. Verse 5 tells us of this—the word translated ‘assault‘ means literally ‘a rush‘ or ‘onset‘, as of a mob in a riot, about to rush upon their adversary. It is, perhaps, used here rather in the sense of an intended assault, news of which reached the Apostles in time, so that they deemed it wise to flee from the city, and so escape the wrath of the mob. The stoning of which we read here, in intent, was only postponed till a later date and in the next stage of the journey, but the enmity at Iconium is evidence enough of the wrath of man against the Lord and his Anointed. The term used of the multitude in their intentions against the servants of the Lord — ‘to use them despitefully‘ — is a standard term in Greek philosophical ideas for ‘insult‘ to those superior in status and especially to the gods. It was regarded among the ancient Greeks as a great sin, punishable by death; if they, without a Divine Revelation, had formed such an estimate of human conduct, in certain relationships between man and his fellow-creature, and man and the superior powers, how much more are we able to see the heinousness of such conduct, in terms of Divine Revelation, and in this context, to evaluate it in relation to Paul and Barrabus, as servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. To this were they called — to bear such insult; such reviling, such assault, for the sake and for the precious name of the Saviour of sinners. How many are the lessons which we may learn, on both sides, from such observations as are recorded here of the activities of the enemies of the Lord, against his faithful servants! Let us realise the sinfulness of prejudicing or embittering, without cause, the minds of any against the servants and people of God; the damage done may be irreparable; the loss to some may be incalculable — how much these poor sinners of the mob of Iconium lost by listening to the unbelieving Jews. Both they who prejudice others and those who are prejudiced by them may suffer. May we also consider seriously the case of those who go beyond this and actually insult or seek to insult the gracious servants of the Lord; their feet are set upon a slippery path indeed. So much for lessons from the attitudes of the enemies of the Apostles — lessons from the reaction of the Apostles to this behaviour will be drawn at the close of the section dealing with that aspect of our subject.
One final point before we turn to this matter itself. We mentioned above that the tactics used in Iconium differed from those employed in Antioch, and the reason lies in this, that Antioch was a Roman colony, but Iconium was a Greek democratic city. The enemies of Paul and Barrabus could not incite a mob in a Roman colony; they could not bring proper charges against the Apostles either, such as could be heard in court. They had to rely on subversive influence among the ruling class in the city, by making use of the honourable and devout women who worshipped at the synagogue as proselytes. They, in turn, would speak to the rulers, as husbands or fathers and so it came about that latterly they took the initiative in driving the Apostles from their city precincts. In Iconium, however, the matter was entirely different—this was a city ruled in accordance with the original democratic institutions of Athens and other Greek city states of the 5th century B.C. The people held power in assembly; all that was required of the Jews here was to turn them against the Apostles as unwelcome intruders and let the multitude take matters into their own hands. There is, in this account of different tactics, a witness to the accuracy of the inspired historian and a testimony to the authenticity of the book of Acts, as part of the infallible Word of God. At the root of both movements, however, we must never forget, lay this inveterate hatred of the Jews to the Cross of Christ (in general terms, the enmity of the carnal mind to the law of God) and therefore we have one element common to both movements—they stirred up or prejudiced the minds of men against the Apostles in both places: (ch. 13 v.50 at Antioch—ch.14 v2 at Iconium): from this point the movements diverge. May we thus see the importance of being rightly affected towards the things of God—to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace (Rom. ch. 8 v. 6).
(To be continued)