Scripture
When it was clear that we could not persuade him, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”
Observation
Paul and his companions resume their travel, heading for Jerusalem.
In Tyre, the believers prophesy by the Holy Spirit, imploring Paul not to go to Jerusalem.
In Caesarea, they stay at the home of Philip. A man named Agabus comes from Judea and performs a prophetic act. He declares that Paul will be bound by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and handed over to the Gentiles.
Everyone pleads with Paul to not go on, but he is determined. He is willing to be imprisoned, even to die, for the sake of the Lord Jesus.
Finally they arrive in Jerusalem where they are warmly welcomed by the brothers and sisters.
Application
Paul had such a strong conviction that he needed to go to Jerusalem, under the direction of the Holy Spirit that nothing, not even a series of prophetic words and actions, would deter him.
Sometimes we can think that if we get a prophetic word spoken over us or directed towards us then we have to follow that word.
In this case, the prophecies were only confirming what Paul knew was the way ahead. He knew that jail, possibly death, awaited him in Jerusalem. The prophecies along the way only served to confirm what God had already told him.
Prophecy and the other gifts of the Holy Spirit are nor meant to be prescriptive. They should not tell us definitively what to do. They are just part of the information that God gives us to help us follow Him.
The response to prophecy always has to be left to the individual, guided by the Holy Spirit.
Prayer
Lord, I thank you for all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, including prophecy. Help me, Lord, to have wisdom in understanding and applying prophecy. Amen.
