Aug. 22, 2026

Last week we ended in Chapter 23 verse 11 with Jesus coming to Paul in the night and comforting him. We pick up in verse 12 with a band of forty Jews vowing to ambush and kill Paul.

Acts Lesson 35 Study Questions

1. The assassins wanted the chief priests and elders to lie to the Roman commander. Their lie was a sin; and men who should have been committed to the ____ of God were instead happy to ____ against Him. They were zealous, but still willing to lie and sin to accomplish their supposedly godly goals.

2. When Paul’s sister’s son heard of their ambush: It was no __________ that this happened. God had to protect Paul because Jesus promised that he would go to Rome to _______ of Him (Acts 23:11).

3. Prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen: 470 trained Roman soldiers would escort Paul out of Jerusalem. It was as if God wanted to ___________ His faithfulness to Paul, and show him beyond any doubt that the _________ of Jesus was true.

4. Had nothing charged against him deserving of death or chains: For Luke, this was the important line in the letter. It is possible that Roman officials _________ the Book of Acts before Paul’s trial before Caesar. Here, Luke showed that other Roman officials had _______ Paul “not guilty.”

5. Took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris: The 200 soldiers only went as far as Antipatris because the most __________ part of the road was only up to this point.

6. I will hear you when your accusers also have come: This would be Paul’s first opportunity to speak to someone at this level of __________ (the governor). This was the beginning of the fulfillment of the ________ made to Paul some 20 years earlier: that he would bear the name of Jesus to kings (Acts 9:15).

7. These gave evidence to the governor against Paul: The presence of all three (Ananias, the elders, and a skilled lawyer) at the court of Felix reminds us of how _________ the Jewish leadership was about obtaining a __________ against Paul.

8. Most noble Felix: Antonius Felix began life as a slave. His brother Pallas was a friend of the emperor Claudius; through such influence, he rose in status – first as a child gaining _________, and then through intrigue he became the first former slave to become a __________ of a Roman province.

9. A ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes: The reference to Paul being a Nazarene was intended to connect him to a generally _________ and lowly place. It was a term of slight scorn used for the followers of Jesus. Nazareth had a poor __________ as a city (John 1:46).

10. By examining him yourself you may ascertain all these things of which we accuse him: Tertullus did not even pretend to offer outside _________ of the charges. His only hope was that Paul would ___________ himself under examination by Felix.

11. I do the more cheerfully answer for myself: Paul was happy to answer for himself, knowing that the _____ of the case were in his favor – and notably, Paul used no __________ in his address to Felix.

12. Both of the just and the unjust: Paul clearly believed in a resurrection for both the __________ and the _____________. The idea of soul-sleep or annihilation for the unrighteous is not accurate according to New Testament teaching.