I observe while Paul is waiting on his men to come from Thessalonica what Paul does while he waits. Paul is focused on his mission from the Lord Jesus and will not be distracted by the entertainment the city has to offer. It isn’t a question of whether it is a sin or not to enjoy things. But for Paul, none of those things the tourist engaged in was for Paul. As a result, his focus availed him to see the city’s idolatry in a light that stirred his soul.
It is my prayer that our souls would be stirred by the things that cause the Lord’s grief. In the city of Athens, surely Paul would have seen many types of vices and evils happen throughout the day as he watched. In all the words to choose from to describe what Paul saw, there is no mistake in choosing “idolatry” as the thing to which the city had wholly given itself. Surely he would have seen no shortage of thievery, social abuses, and dishonesty. All of these are equally condemnable crimes against God, yet the one thing that is noted is the city’s wholesale idolatry.
I currently live in such a city. For the most part of our city, the people pride themselves in being “good” and moral. They would not see their idolatry and ancestral worship as evil.
But against God, it is a daily, hour sin against him. The people of Athens (and I argue the people of Taiwan) do not know the heinousness of this offense against God. These next few verses are the account of how Paul tried to show them in a few short days he was there.
V17-18
His first attempts were met with confusion. The marketplace may not be the best venue for a sincere focus on hearing and learning. The market is busy, loud, and distracting. Yet this is where Paul would have engaged with the populace. The market is also where he would have seen many of the city’s idols.
They were confused about what Paul was preaching. It is very different from anything they heard about the gods. They thought that Paul was preaching Jesus to be another god amongst many that they should add to their line-up of worship. They would have been particularly confused by talk of resurrection; the idea that people would come back to live in a physical body went against the philosophy of the day.
But what is wrong with adding Jesus to a list of gods to be worshipped? This is what kept the Roman Empire happy as the empire grew and overtook more cities. To incorporate new people into the empire, the empire would simply add their gods with their own gods. For the most part, as long as a city’s gods were respected, the people were happy.
Similar things are said in Taiwan. Ask the men who preach the gospel door-to-door or talk to strangers in the street about Jesus. A common initial reply is, “I don’t discriminate against any religion,” or “I respect all religions.” This is essentially the attitude of the ancient Roman Empire. This isn’t the attitude of Taiwan only but all of the world people look to this type of talk as being civilized and inclusive.
Even though this is what was popularly accepted by everyone in the empire, God saw it as a great sin of unbelief. Simply adding Jesus on the shelf with other idols only further condemns the sinner in his ignorance.
But Paul was outnumbered. The general atmosphere around him was mocking, yet some felt humored enough to listen. Paul did this every day in the market place trusting God would somehow make the gospel heard in Athens.
v19-21
After going out daily to the marketplace, an opportunity came about when two philosophers took him to Areopagus to let the other philosophers hear and debate with Paul. Combined with Paul’s earlier burden and persistence in the marketplace, it seems God had opened a door after all. I wonder if this would opportunity would have revealed itself if Paul’s spirit had not been stirred or if he would have given up after just a few attempts in the marketplace?
They called him a “babbler,” similar to what someone might say about someone else who is uneducated and only able to repeat bits of information they have managed to piece together from various places. It was an insult to Paul, a way to look down on him and laugh at his expense. But Paul had been prepared for this. God had called him to suffer for the gospel’s sake. Suffering and mockery were God’s chosen vehicle for Paul so that people would hear the gospel and be saved.
Acts 9:15-16
But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.
Regardless of their mockery, being laughed at was actually the means by which Paul had an opportunity to preach. But his challenge is for Jesus to not simply be added to the long list of Rome’s gods but for these people to forsake all other gods for the God who made them. If the Athenians are going to be saved, they cannot place Jesus on a shelf and then come to him when they decide it’s convenient, but rather they must be wholly converted and organize their lives around God.
That seems like a humongous change for these people. Like the Athenians, if the Taiwanese were to believe the gospel and be saved, they, too, would require a fundamental change and not simply add Jesus to a list of deities to pray to. Furthermore, Paul only has a few days in Athens, as he still heading toward his ultimate destination of Macedonia. What will he say in just a few days?
V22-23
Paul speaks to them about their idolatry and why it is wrong. Paul quickly finds an introduction to his topic and chooses a particular altar he passed by. If, by some chance, the Athenians had left out an important god in the worship, they erected an altar to this nameless god. Perhaps the god who isn’t known would be appeased by this altar so as not to cause mischief for the people in the city.
Even though this god is part of the idolatrous system Paul is preaching against, he still finds a starting point for his message. This god is unknown to them, and they want to worship him simply because he is worthy to be recognized. In the same way, the Athenians are ignorant of who the God of the Bible is and ignorant of the gospel message. Because Paul found a place of agreement to begin his Gospel presentation, he would have won the attention of his hearers and an opportunity to continue.
In Taiwan and elsewhere, we, too, wish to win opportunities with our family, friends, and co-workers. The Christian message may seem very foreign so those we wish to share it with, but the strangeness people have to the gospel is just superficial. When the gospel is introduced, in the eyes of the audience, it is news from a far country speaking of “foreign gods,” as the philosophers said. However, there are points of agreement that everyone In every culture can find in the Gospel of Jesus. Paul uses these points to bring God’s gospel close to home, as he says in verse 27, “though he be not far from every one of us.”
Paul begins with the obvious. As a visitor, the things most obvious to him, such as the sheer number of idols and statues throughout the city, are also the thing of pride for its citizens. Paul begins with this, but he does not build his case until he has established he is more than a mere visitor of the city. Indeed, Paul is an expert in the things they do not know. He says, “Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.” We can get a sense of the weight of this line in the ears of those who pride themselves on knowledge in philosophy.
Paul is not a babbling seed-picker as they say, but instead a learned man, knowledgeable in their own authors, but expert in the God they already worship but do not know. Paul is offering the answers to a mystery that their own experts and intellectuals admit to having. For the time being, Paul has won this opportunity now, not only by preserving in the market for many days but also by knowing his audience and commanding their attention.
V24-25 The case against idolatry
Paul did not jump straight into condemning their idolatry without first making a logical case against it. After all, with the heart, men believe unto salvation; it would do them no good to only condemn them with accusations. Paul gives them a two-part definition of what God is, which is then used to declare the appropriate human response. First, God is not created, but he is the Creator of all things. Secondly, God reigns supreme over all the happenings of the universe.
These two arguments are the basis for the rest of Paul’s discourse. If God is the Creator of all and himself the uncreated cause for all that exists, then it is absurd to ascribe worship to other “gods” that are created. There is no comparison. There is nothing equal to God in power and majesty. Although Paul is not quoting from the Scriptures to convince his audience, his argument is the Old Testament teaching on what true divinity is.
Exodus 20:3–Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Exodus 24:14–For though shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God
Deuteronomy 32:12–See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: Neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.
Like present-day Taiwan, there was a complex system of worship for these gods in temples and rituals providing the service to what the gods lacked. In exchange for human service, worshippers would ask for favors for their endeavors.
But as Paul has already stated, it would be absurd to think the God who makes all and rules would need anything at all. The fact that the so-called gods of Athens needed human worship is an obvious sign that they are not gods at all. God is “neither worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed anything.”
The sin of idolatry is two-fold, one, in giving worship to created things; two, thinking God can be domesticated by our service as though he needs us. But so what? It seems the people of Athens are happy with their gods, whether they be true or untrue. Why should Paul expect them or even the people of Taiwan to drastically change their lives for the God that Paul is talking about?
Paul was aware of the many objections that people in his audience would have. My own experience served me to know this is true. As the gospel of God is proclaimed in a pagan nation, the sentiment of the modern audience is, “So what, why should I change anything for a foreign God?”
Paul has two remaining powerful arguments to answer the “so what” question.
V26-29 We are God’s offspring
There is a particular reason why the God of the universe would have a special interest in humanity. That reason is Paul’s argument, and is this, “For in him we live, and move, and have our being…For we are also his offspring.” Again Paul uses wordage that they would quickly understand in a one-sermon series. But this argument comes from Scripture in Genesis 1:26, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion….”
The reason why it is absurd to make idols and worship them is because God already has an image; humanity. Because men and women are made in the image of God, that gives them a special position in the order of creation, even a central role in the universe. Amongst all creatures, earthly or heavenly, there is only one image of God, just as there is only one God. When that relationship is disturbed by idolatry and the worship of false gods, God’s jealousy is engaged. That is the first answer to the “so what” question.
The latter part is in the meaning of verses 30 through 31.
V30-31 There is a day of judgment for God’s offspring.
The reason why people of all nations, including Taiwan, should heed the words of the God who made them is that God has appointed a day of judgment for all people, regardless of race. Everyone person’s life and breath is a gift from him, not the pieces of stone and wood that they may worship.
In our modern day, the gospel speaks the same message to atheists, those who deny the existence of any god. Yet the principle of what Paul is saying applies to the atheist also. Our life is on loan and is not merely the result of chance and natural processes. God’s purpose is in your life and breath, and just as sure as you are breathing, you can be sure that you will be held accountable to God for your life, particularly for the sin of idolatry, a sin even atheism cannot excuse.
v32 The People Laugh
How can anyone be sure that God will judge? How is Paul so sure? In this particular sermon, he was cut off by laughter and scoff before he could finish. But before he was interrupted, Paul had begun to tell them about the resurrected Jesus. Paul had said, “he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the old in righteousness by that man who he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he raised him from the dead.” In other words, God has chosen Jesus and his resurrection to be the clear message to the world that judgment will happen for all men.
There may be many things about the Bible or about this particular message that pagans would find disagreeable and wish to argue. But this final claim is the only one that needs to be seriously weighed, Jesus rose from the dead.
No one comes back from the dead. But Jesus did, and there is plenty of data to support it. If Paul were allowed to continue, sure, he would have given his own eyewitness testimony of who he was and what he saw. Paul was first the enemy of Christ, but because of his encounter with the resurrected Jesus, he was converted and his life drastically changed.
v33 Yet Some Responded to God’s Call
God’s call to the Athenians to repent from their idolatry that day was widely rejected. However, there were several individuals who answered God’s called and believed in Jesus. They spoke with Paul after his sermon and got the rest of the information. They decided that these claims were too large and important to dismiss. “Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed….” God is calling in Taiwan just the same. I pray one day, the people of this land will respond to God in large numbers, but so far, the response has been like the one in Athens, some here and there.
To Paul, seeing people worship stones and blocks of wood must have seemed laughable. The same thing people use to cook their food can be carved into a god they ask to save them during a drought or other disaster. It must seem laughable to ask dead ancestors to save them from another nation who are praying to their dead ancestors for the power to destroy them. Rome prays to their gods to destroy a nation that is praying to their gods to protect them. How could anyone have confidence in their own finite puny gods? Paul could laugh, but he didn’t; he was stirred in the heart with the jealousy of God.
J. C. Walz – Faith, Fiction, and DEvotional Writing 
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