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Did Agabus Make Mistakes in His Prophecy?
An interesting question dealing with vv.10-11 from our reading today. There was a post on The Cripplegate a while back on this issue called "Throwing Prophecy Under the Agabus". The reason the author is dealing with the passage is a little complex, so we'll just deal with the results of his study. If you take the time to read to whole post and are confused about what/why he's dealing with, let me know.
So - the question is whether or not Agabus made mistakes in his prophecy. Here's what we know:
1. Acts 11:28 tells us that Agabus is a true prophet and correctly prophecied about a coming famine.
2. Agabus prophecies in today's passage that the Jews will take Paul.
3. What Agabus said was true - Paul was captured in Jerusalem.
4. There is controversy over two parts of his prophecy:
a. The Jews would bind Paul
b. The Jews would deliver him to the Romans
Here's what Grudem says about this passage: “the prediction was not far off, but it had inaccuracies in detail that would have called into question the validity of any Old Testament prophet” (Bible Doctrine, 411).
So what gives? Was he right or wrong? The post gives 5 reasons why Agabus was right in his prophecy:
"1. Nothing in the text states that Agabus got his prophecy wrong. Neither Luke, nor Paul, nor anyone else in Scripture criticizes the accuracy of Agabus’s prediction or says that he erred. [To say otherwise] is based on an argument from silence.
2. Luke’s description of what happened to Paul in Jerusalem implies that the Jews “bound” him in some way. Later in Acts 21, Luke explains what happened to the apostle shortly after he arrived in Jerusalem. The Jews “laid hands on” Paul (v. 27), “seized” him (v. 30), “dragged” him out of the temple (v. 30), “sought to kill” him (v. 31), and “were beating” him when the Roman soldiers finally arrived (v. 32). In Acts 26:21, Paul reiterates (before Agrippa) that the Jews “seized” him in the temple and “tried to kill” him. Since Paul did not willingly go with the Jewish mob (a point implied by verbs like “seized” and “dragged”), they would have had to restrain him in some way as they forcibly removed him from the temple—using whatever was immediately available to bind him. Luke did not need to repeat that detail, since Agabus had already told us that Paul would be bound with something like a belt...
3. Paul’s later testimony confirms that the Jews “delivered him over” to the Romans. In Acts 21:32, Paul is being beaten when the Roman cohort arrives. The Jews, upon seeing the soldiers, stop assaulting Paul (v. 32). The bloodied apostle is then arrested by the Romans (v. 33). The implication of the text is that the Jews backed away and willingly relinquished Paul into the hands of the Romans once the soldiers arrived. Such accords perfectly with Agabus’s prediction.
The accuracy of Agabus’s statement is further strengthened by the testimony of Paul himself. Acts 28:16–17, describing Paul’s arrival in Rome, says this:
When we entered Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who was guarding him. After three days Paul called together those who were the leading men of the Jews, and when they came together, he began saying to them, “Brethren, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.” (emphasis added)....
4. Agabus is quoting the Holy Spirit. In Acts 21:11, Agabus begins his prophecy by stating, “Thus says the Holy Spirit,” and nothing in the text indicates that he was wrong to do so. (In fact, the Holy Spirit Himself inspired Luke to record Agabus’s prophecy in just that way, with no qualifications or caveats.) Those who wish to accuse Agabus of error ought to be very careful, since Agabus himself is quoting the Holy Spirit.
Furthermore, by claiming to speak the very words of the Holy Spirit, Agabus was aligning himself with other biblical prophets...
Based on such parallels, in which God was the direct Source of the message proclaimed, extreme caution ought to be exercised before alleging that Agabus erred in his prophecy....
5. No one in church history accused Agabus of errant prophecy until modern times. The church fathers don’t talk about Agabus much. But when they do, they equate him (in accuracy and authority) with the Old Testament prophets. There is no hint of “fallible prophecy” in their description of Agabus or his prediction in Acts 21:11..." [1]
The author goes on to give some examples from ancient Church writing, but we don't need to do that here. You get the idea.
So that's it - it seems like a strange discussion to even have in the first place, but it's an important one because it's foundational. Can true prophecy be wrong? If the answer to that question is yes, where does it stop? Does that mean the writers of the Scripture could be wrong too? True prophecy is just that - true. Whether or not you believe that prophecy exists today, what you believe about Agabus and whether he was right or wrong absolutely influences your life, because it opens up a lot of other issues, the most important being whether or not the Bible is true. I think that the post (and here, reposted) have demonstrated that Agabus was a true prophet that spoke the full truth. Though it seems a bit like splitting hairs, the Bible shows his words to be true. We can trust the Spirit of God working to reveal truth to us.
Thoughts? Questions? Comments?
Did Agabus Make Mistakes in His Prophecy?
An interesting question dealing with vv.10-11 from our reading today. There was a post on The Cripplegate a while back on this issue called "Throwing Prophecy Under the Agabus". The reason the author is dealing with the passage is a little complex, so we'll just deal with the results of his study. If you take the time to read to whole post and are confused about what/why he's dealing with, let me know.
So - the question is whether or not Agabus made mistakes in his prophecy. Here's what we know:
1. Acts 11:28 tells us that Agabus is a true prophet and correctly prophecied about a coming famine.
2. Agabus prophecies in today's passage that the Jews will take Paul.
3. What Agabus said was true - Paul was captured in Jerusalem.
4. There is controversy over two parts of his prophecy:
a. The Jews would bind Paul
b. The Jews would deliver him to the Romans
Here's what Grudem says about this passage: “the prediction was not far off, but it had inaccuracies in detail that would have called into question the validity of any Old Testament prophet” (Bible Doctrine, 411).
So what gives? Was he right or wrong? The post gives 5 reasons why Agabus was right in his prophecy:
"1. Nothing in the text states that Agabus got his prophecy wrong. Neither Luke, nor Paul, nor anyone else in Scripture criticizes the accuracy of Agabus’s prediction or says that he erred. [To say otherwise] is based on an argument from silence.
2. Luke’s description of what happened to Paul in Jerusalem implies that the Jews “bound” him in some way. Later in Acts 21, Luke explains what happened to the apostle shortly after he arrived in Jerusalem. The Jews “laid hands on” Paul (v. 27), “seized” him (v. 30), “dragged” him out of the temple (v. 30), “sought to kill” him (v. 31), and “were beating” him when the Roman soldiers finally arrived (v. 32). In Acts 26:21, Paul reiterates (before Agrippa) that the Jews “seized” him in the temple and “tried to kill” him. Since Paul did not willingly go with the Jewish mob (a point implied by verbs like “seized” and “dragged”), they would have had to restrain him in some way as they forcibly removed him from the temple—using whatever was immediately available to bind him. Luke did not need to repeat that detail, since Agabus had already told us that Paul would be bound with something like a belt...
3. Paul’s later testimony confirms that the Jews “delivered him over” to the Romans. In Acts 21:32, Paul is being beaten when the Roman cohort arrives. The Jews, upon seeing the soldiers, stop assaulting Paul (v. 32). The bloodied apostle is then arrested by the Romans (v. 33). The implication of the text is that the Jews backed away and willingly relinquished Paul into the hands of the Romans once the soldiers arrived. Such accords perfectly with Agabus’s prediction.
The accuracy of Agabus’s statement is further strengthened by the testimony of Paul himself. Acts 28:16–17, describing Paul’s arrival in Rome, says this:
When we entered Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who was guarding him. After three days Paul called together those who were the leading men of the Jews, and when they came together, he began saying to them, “Brethren, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.” (emphasis added)....
4. Agabus is quoting the Holy Spirit. In Acts 21:11, Agabus begins his prophecy by stating, “Thus says the Holy Spirit,” and nothing in the text indicates that he was wrong to do so. (In fact, the Holy Spirit Himself inspired Luke to record Agabus’s prophecy in just that way, with no qualifications or caveats.) Those who wish to accuse Agabus of error ought to be very careful, since Agabus himself is quoting the Holy Spirit.
Furthermore, by claiming to speak the very words of the Holy Spirit, Agabus was aligning himself with other biblical prophets...
Based on such parallels, in which God was the direct Source of the message proclaimed, extreme caution ought to be exercised before alleging that Agabus erred in his prophecy....
5. No one in church history accused Agabus of errant prophecy until modern times. The church fathers don’t talk about Agabus much. But when they do, they equate him (in accuracy and authority) with the Old Testament prophets. There is no hint of “fallible prophecy” in their description of Agabus or his prediction in Acts 21:11..." [1]
The author goes on to give some examples from ancient Church writing, but we don't need to do that here. You get the idea.
So that's it - it seems like a strange discussion to even have in the first place, but it's an important one because it's foundational. Can true prophecy be wrong? If the answer to that question is yes, where does it stop? Does that mean the writers of the Scripture could be wrong too? True prophecy is just that - true. Whether or not you believe that prophecy exists today, what you believe about Agabus and whether he was right or wrong absolutely influences your life, because it opens up a lot of other issues, the most important being whether or not the Bible is true. I think that the post (and here, reposted) have demonstrated that Agabus was a true prophet that spoke the full truth. Though it seems a bit like splitting hairs, the Bible shows his words to be true. We can trust the Spirit of God working to reveal truth to us.
Thoughts? Questions? Comments?
[1] http://thecripplegate.com/throwing-prophecy-under-the-agabus. Accessed 7-27-12.
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