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Equipping Believers with Biblical Knowledge and Leadership Skills
Category: Personal Study
Thread: Enigmatic Bible Characters Who Changed the World
Post Topic: Fiery Egyptian Evangelist Proclaims Messianic Truth
Post in Thread: #7
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Scripture: Acts 18:24-28
Imagine
Aquila squeezed his wife’s hand in excitement. “He’s teaching about Jesus,” he whispered.
This was just the type of dynamic speaker they’d been praying to arrive in Ephesus. Paul’s time here had swelled the number of believers, but the church lacked a powerful voice. The community looked to Aquila to answer their questions, but he lacked the eloquence of this speaker. Not to mention, the confidence.
The Jewish community had buzzed at the arrival of the impassioned preacher from Alexandria. Today the synagogue bulged with the curious and the devout alike. Aquila and Priscilla stood outside the doorway listening intently as Apollos wrapped up his message of repentance. It was good, but something was missing.
“That’s it?” Priscilla said. “Why’d he stop there?”
“I don’t know… Maybe he’s going to come back tomorrow? There’s so much more! The resurrection, the outpouring of the Spirit… let’s see if we can talk to him.”
Patiently, they waited. Many came forward, wanting to speak with Apollos about how to change their lives. About how to be baptized. The couple pushed forward, wanting to hear him teach. He connected with everyone, even those who questioned how Jesus could be the Messiah. How Jesus could be the fulfillment of the teachings of John the Baptizer. But he only spoke of a baptism of repentance. Not a baptism symbolizing the death, burial, and resurrection of our Savior. Opportunity after opportunity, Apollos squandered.
“We have to talk to him,” Priscilla said. “Do you think he’ll be open to a deeper understanding?”
“Only one way to find out,” Aquila said, pressing forward nervously.
Key Verses (but read the whole passage):
Acts 18:25
25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.
Enigmatic, Obscure Bible Characters
An enigma is a person that is mysterious or puzzling to understand. The Bible contains many such characters. The writer will drop a name or describe a nameless person, and tell a story about them. As a writer, it always makes me wonder – what makes them tick? Why was that particular name dropped? What’s their backstory?
In this series, I put you in their situations, and describe what we know and what we speculate about these obscure characters from history.
Observations
Context
The apostle Paul had ministered at Ephesus on his third missionary journey. Apollos appeared in Ephesus soon thereafter. Paul had preached in the synagogue, laying the groundwork for further spread of the faith. He had brought his friends Priscilla and Aquila with him to Ephesus (they were Jewish refugees from Rome). When Paul left Ephesus to continue his missionary journey, he left Priscilla and Aquila behind to help guide the new young church in this very Roman city.
Apollos
Who was Apollos, and what was he like? This passage describes him in this way:
- A Jew from Alexandria (thriving city in Egypt)
- Eloquent
- Educated and knowledgeable about the Scriptures
- Fervent for the Lord
- Spoke boldly
His Teaching in Ephesus
He spoke in the local synagogue about Jesus, but his knowledge was somehow limited to what John the Baptist taught. He wasn’t fully aware of how Jesus fulfilled both the prophecies of the Old Testament and John the Baptist’s predictions about the Messiah.
Priscilla and Aquila Set Him Straight
This godly couple, having been tutored by Paul himself, took Apollos aside and taught him the full depth of the truths of the gospel. Apollos became a mighty ambassador for Christ, proclaiming the truth of the Christian faith, especially among the Jews.
The book of Hebrews has an unknown author, but many scholars believe Apollos might have penned this epistle.
Interpretation
Setting
Ephesus was an important port city in Asia of that day (modern-day Turkey). In Greek culture, it was know for its dedication to the goddess Artemis. This fervor for Artemis led to a riot in chapter 19 over the impact of Christianity (but that’s a story for another study). It was influenced by a blend of Roman and Greek cultures. Jews maintained a large presence there as well.
Genre
Historical narrative.
Takeaways
- Apollos was willing to boldly share his convictions even without understanding the full story of the Messiah.
- Priscilla and Aquila recognized the potential in Apollos. They also recognized the flaws in his teaching.
- Priscilla and Aquilla did not confront Apollos publicly. They did not try to embarrass him. They took him aside and gently explained what they had learned directly from Paul (remember, there were no television evangelists back then).
- Apollos was humble in spirit. He was open to receiving teaching, even though he was confident in his own knowledge of the Scriptures.
Correlations
We know from our passage that Apollos did not stay in Ephesus after this instruction from Priscilla and Aquila. He received blessing to travel to Achaia, where his ability to break down Scripture and apply it to Jesus convinced many. In Acts 19:1 we learn that he traveled to Corinth and taught. We have other evidence that he traveled to Crete and other places. So Apollos was a well-known missionary like Paul.
In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians we find some interesting references to Apollos in I Corinthians 3:3-9:
3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?
5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
Verses 6-8 of this passage is an interesting analogy. Paul planted, and Apollos watered. Both were important. But ultimately, why did it succeed? God gave the growth. We can learn the following from this passage:
- Paul humbly gave credit to God.
- Paul calls himself a planter, an then says that he who plants isn’t anything.
- As we study these passages, the humility of both Paul and Apollos shines, in spite of the great ways in which God used them.
- Are you a planter or a waterer? Or do you have some other role? It doesn’t matter, as long as you are obedient. Whether the harvest comes in or not is up to God.
- We are God’s instruments. We are His laborers. We are His fellow workers, on God’s earth. Let’s glorify Him together.
Side note – this passage also speaks to the lack of unity found among these scattered groups. They were saying things like “I follow Apollos or Paul,” rather than “I follow God.” This could be a completely separate Bible study, especially now that we have more context about who Apollos is from Acts. Give it a shot using the four-step approach!
Application
Generic Applications
God’s Instruments
Priscilla and Aquila were much different people than Apollos. They were humble servants, not fiery preachers. They were like deacons and elders of the church, behind the scenes, enabling those gifted in teaching and preaching to do their jobs more effectively. Men like Paul and Apollos need faithful helpers like Priscilla and Aquila to be successful. God used all of them in different ways to spread the truth.
These three saints are remembered forever in the book of Acts for their faithfulness, despite their different types of contributions. Think about the Priscilla/Aquilas in your church or your life. Compare them to the Apollos you know. Both have an important role in God’s kingdom. Which are you more like? It doesn’t matter in God’s eyes, as long as you are serving Him to the best of your ability.
Knowing God’s Word
Apollos was described as knowledgeable in the Scriptures and well-educated. He must have spoken with confidence. Yet Priscilla and Aquila also were blessed with a deep understanding of Scripture. This understanding enabled them to teach this highly-competent man the deeper truths of God’s eternal plan.
Apollos became a great debater of Scripture and God’s plan with Jews all over the region. His foundational knowledge of Scripture, combined with the teaching of Priscilla and Aquila, equipped him for such success. Regardless of how God uses us, it is critical for us to have a deep knowledge of Scripture.
Personalize it
Humility Breeds Success
Consider the humility demonstrated by Apollos in this passage. Think about the descriptions of Apollos in the Observations section. He had people hanging on every word. He was led by the Spirit. He knew the Holy Scriptures inside and out. Yet these two local tentmakers sought to teach him about the Christ.
Apollos didn’t shun them. Instead, he humbly learned from them. He compared what they were teaching to the Scripture he already knew. And he learned. His humility allowed him to become a great preacher of his day.
Am I humble enough to learn from others? To take time to test their teachings with Scripture? If I were in Apollos’s position in Ephesus, would I have listened to Priscilla and Aquila?
Bible study methodology adapted from Searching the Scriptures with permission from Tyndale House:
Swindoll, Charles, Searching the Scriptures. Tyndale House Publishers, 2016.