"Then the disciples took him by night, and let him down by the wall in a basket...And through a window in a basket was I let down by the wall, and escaped his hands."
This incident in Paul's life has always fascinated me. Like a pomegranate, it is full of seed thoughts. Allow me to pass along to you just a few that come to my mind.
1. God does not always use supernatural means of deliverance, as in Peter's case (Acts 12). Most of the time He uses the human and natural, like in Paul's situation.
2. Some go to great length to prove Paul was small, as his name indicates. But you'd know that by him fitting into a basket. I doubt if a "heavy" man like Eli would have fit. The baskets were used for food, grain and fish. Not overly large. Not made with holding humans in mind, I'm sure
3. Whoever was the weaver of the basket, I am certain, never dreamed it would be used to deliver the world's greatest mind from extermination. Therefore, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might."
4. And what were the names of the helpers who gently let the apostle down to safety? No one knows, except God. And in the final analysis, that's all that matters. "Who they were nobody knows; what they did, everybody knows."
5. Should not Paul have stayed, like many missionaries, and died a martyr's death. No! it was not yet his time. Of the two witnesses in Revelation we're told, "And when they shall have finished their testimony...the beast...shall overcome them, and kill them." Jesus' rule was when they persecute you in one city, flee to another.
6. As a new convert, this was Paul's first suffering for Christ, and it came in the form of humiliation. It was a wounded pride he suffered. He came into Damascus with pomp, representing the Jewish supreme council. Now he leaves in the darkness of night like a hunted thief. He learned early, "The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord." I wonder if some of us have learned this yet?
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