Acts 28:26-31
 
Acts 28:26 (KJB)
Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:
 
(Isa 6:9 KJV) And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. God gave the commission to Isaiah that he was to go to the house of Judah and was to proclaim His message. God had warned him what he was going to be up against. First, they would hear Isaiah’s message from God physically but because of their spiritual deadness, they will not be able to understand the message. They will be stiffnecked and rebellious. (Acts 7:51 KJV) Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Stephen brought up that very fact that the Jews who were listening to him, Saul included, resisted the Holy Spirit in the hardness of their heart and Paul sees the very same thing. Secondly, he even brought up the fact that they will see and not perceive, that is, they would not understand or know. Many of them saw the Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh and many saw Him raise Lazarus as well as other miracles. Many saw the miracles that the Apostles did and
 they still failed to understand that something new was happening from the Kingdom of God.
 
Acts 28:27 (KJB)
For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
 
Waxed Gross - Make fat, thicken, or dull
Dull - With difficulty or hard of hearing
 
What had surrounded the heart and ears of these people was that for hundreds of years a thickened band of unbelief had encompassed them. They have become so set in unbelief that even when they see things with their eyes that they know is of God, they reject it as if they have closed their eyes and did not see it. Their unbelief was so thick and strong, that it prevented God from converting them by means of them seeing, hearing, and understanding with the heart. When a person’s heart is so darkened by sin and unbelief, it keeps a person in that prison until God frees them with the Gospel. (Isa 14:17 KJV) That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? Once God saves a person, that is considered healing them which is the true spiritual healin, that physical healing exemplifies.
 
Acts 28:28 (KJB)
Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.
 
Paul then adds that this salvation has been going to the Gentiles and that they will hear it. The word for “hear” is “hearing with understanding” which is contrast to the dullness of the Jews who do not hear with understanding. Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles had flourished because he had set up churches as major centers of Christianity in many big cities. Notice the term “will hear” these two English words are one word in the Greek which is in the future tense meaning that among the Gentiles, there will be much acceptance of the true Gospel in contrast to the rejection by the Jews who wish to stay under the law. The Gentiles will hear the Gospel and salvation will happen to many. (Acts 13:48 KJV) And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
 
Acts 28:29 (KJB)
And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves.
 
Reasoning - Discussion or Dispute
 
After Paul had completed his time of scripture study and discussion with his guests, it was time for them to leave and as normal, when they left there was great discussion and dispute among them. I am sure after this visit with Paul, they will all be provoked into a deeper study of Scripture. Even those who want to prove Paul wrong may become saved. There are many who started out trying to prove Christianity wrong and have become saved in the middle of their studies, one such person comes to mind, Josh McDowell, who authored a book, “Evidence That Demands A Verdict” in 1972.
 
Acts 28:30 (KJB)
And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him,
 
The day of the Gospel presentation was not over when the Jews left. The Lord stated that he was to witness at Rome and he was able to be a witness for two years in his own rented home. I am sure that from his apartment went the Gospel to the greater city of Rome. He, no doubt, had many visitors and not just those who disagreed but those who were working with him to get the Gospel out and he was probably training the next generation of Christians. It would be the next generation which would begin to feel the beginning of the Roman persecutions and they needed to be well grounded in the Scriptures and how to mount a defense of the faith, just as he did.
 
Acts 28:31 (KJB)
Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him
 
Preaching - Proclaiming
 
These last two years of Paul’s life was the outreach that God wanted him to perform because he was able to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom of God without any interference or hindrance. This must have been the final push of the Gospel before the persecutions started under Nero. God was getting the Gospel entrenched in the city of Rome and that would make for an easy starting point to get it out to the rest of the Roman Empire. Even while Paul was under this situation like a house arrest, his confidence was still in the Lord Jesus Christ and he was able to continue proclaiming the Gospel in great confidence, that is, with all openness and frankness.
 
Addendum
The book of Acts ends abruptly and that is because the work of the church has not ended. It will end on the last day but until that time we are still continuing the Gospel outreach begun by the Apostles. The word “Acts” may also be understood as “deeds.” As we continue to send forth the word, let us also send it forth in deeds. May God richly Bless You as you continue to search His word.

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