As I read this
morning through Acts 28, verse 24 again caught my eye: “Some were being
persuaded by the things spoken, but others would not believe.”
The Greek word (apisteo) in this last
clause is best rendered "would
not believe" instead of ‘disbelieved’ (as some Bibles translate it). The
context implies the people had full opportunity to accept the message, but willfully
rejected it.
Here is the
passage in context. Paul is in Rome, under guard, and has called for the leaders
of the local Jewish community to hear his message:
When they
had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and
he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and
trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from
the Prophets, from morning until evening.
Some were
being persuaded by the things spoken, but others would not believe. And when they
did not agree with one another, they began leaving after Paul had spoken one parting
word, “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers,
saying, ‘Go to this people and
say, “You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; And you will keep on
seeing, but will not perceive; For the heart of this people has become dull, and
with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes; Otherwise
they might see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with
their heart and return, and I would heal them.”’ (Acts 28:23-27)
In the several decades I’ve shared with
others the good news about forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ alone, many
responded that they could not believe it. And each time they said it, I wondered
if what they really meant was, they ‘would not’ believe it.
God moved Isaiah to warn those in his
day of the consequences of willfully rejecting truth: Their hearts would become
hard, their ears dulled, and their eyes blinded. Seven hundred years later, God
moved Paul to repeat the same warning to those who also would not believe.
Whether in Isaiah’s day, or Paul’s – or ours,
God’s warning remains the same. The more often we say we “will not believe”,
the harder it becomes for us to ever say, “I will believe.”
Please. Choose wisely.
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