Berean is Believin'

Berean is Believin’
by Wendy Elizabeth Middleton

Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Acts 17:11

Paul was a traveling preacher. He traveled form town to town and spoke at various churches, synagogues, along the way. He spoke in the synagogue at Thessalonica on three Sabbath days, which means he was there for three weeks. In the synagogue he reasoned with the people from the Scriptures. They already knew that the Messiah, the Christ, had been promised, but they were expecting a David, a soldier, someone who would overthrow their oppressors and set up the kingdom of Israel on earth. Paul argued that Jesus was this Christ, he explained why the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead and he used the scriptures to prove his point.



Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women.
But the Jews were jealous Acts 17:4-5

Paul and Silas had to sneak out of town. These particular Jews were not about to let their God given superiority slip through their fingers. They were the sons of Abraham, the keepers of the keys to the kingdom, Jerusalem was the throne of God, they were the people of God and no one else was invited.

But Christ came from the kingdom of Israel, to establish the Kingdom of God on earth, not the kingdom of Israel.

The next town that Paul visited was Berea and the Bereans were more interested in the kingdom of God than their earthly home. They were eager for the Messiah – but they didn’t trust that this was The Christ just because Paul said so; they searched the scriptures for proof. They didn’t skim, they didn’t just read a passage or two, they searched for the will of God as if searching for gold.

Dear friends do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1

The Bereans didn’t trust Paul just because he came to speak in the synagogue they tested his words against the word of God.

You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. John 5:39-40

Nor did the Bereans search for scripture that supported their ideas of the truth. They searched the scriptures for the will of God.

The Bereans searched the scripture to see if Jesus was The Christ, the promised Messiah. Did Jesus fit with what the scriptures said about the Messiah? They were eager for the truth.

We need to be belivin’ like Bereans, testing every message out there against the word of God, eager for the truth and ready to accept the Messiah when we find proof in the word of God that he has come.

Simple – Ain’t – Easy
But it sure is worth the effort
- Wendy