JOIN THE JOURNEY JR.
Families Abiding in Jesus together
With shorter reading assignments and kid-specific focus areas, Join The Journey Jr. is designed to help parents disciple their kids and engage with Scripture in the best ways for their age.
This month's memory verse
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
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When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.
The Plan to Kill Paul
12The next morning a group of Jews* got together and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. 13There were more than forty of them in the conspiracy. 14They went to the leading priests and elders and told them, “We have bound ourselves with an oath to eat nothing until we have killed Paul. 15So you and the high council should ask the commander to bring Paul back to the council again. Pretend you want to examine his case more fully. We will kill him on the way.”
16But Paul’s nephew—his sister’s son—heard of their plan and went to the fortress and told Paul. 17Paul called for one of the Roman officers* and said, “Take this young man to the commander. He has something important to tell him.”
18So the officer did, explaining, “Paul, the prisoner, called me over and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.”
19The commander took his hand, led him aside, and asked, “What is it you want to tell me?”
20Paul’s nephew told him, “Some Jews are going to ask you to bring Paul before the high council tomorrow, pretending they want to get some more information. 21But don’t do it! There are more than forty men hiding along the way ready to ambush him. They have vowed not to eat or drink anything until they have killed him. They are ready now, just waiting for your consent.”
22“Don’t let anyone know you told me this,” the commander warned the young man.
Throughout history, people have used coded messages to pass important information during periods of war or uncertainty. You might have learned about this in any of your history classes at school. In these instances, we see people acting with great courage to get the right message to the right people.
In today’s passage from Acts 23, we see this theme of courage and boldness continued through Paul’s nephew. Paul’s nephew overhears the council making a plot to harm Paul. He could have reacted (or not reacted) in a number of ways, but he chose to tell Paul even though it was a scary situation. His actions ensured that the right information was given to the right people, and Paul was saved from the council’s plot. In this passage we also see that God uses the courage of Paul’s nephew to bring the truth to the light.
Before you complete the activity below, talk through the discussion questions below on the passage:
Play the game of telephone, where the first person starts with a phrase like “For God so loved the world” and whispers it to the next person. Do this until everyone has heard the phrase. The last person says the phrase out loud to see if the message stayed intact. (If there are only two of you, try playing a game like Hangman where the phrase must be decoded)
Before you pray, spend time talking through the discussion question below:
Father, thank you that you are our protector, and that we can trust that the truth will always prevail! Thank you for story after story in Acts of you acting on Paul’s behalf and for the way you continually give your followers courage to face hard situations. We ask that you would give us that same courage today to trust you as we face hard situations in our lives.