Galatians 1:17 Commentary and Bible Study

Wasn’t it natural that Paul should consult with those who were leaders in the church, who had known the Lord during his earthly ministry? Yes, it would have been natural, and if this had been any other calling to service in the church he might have done so, but the call to be an apostle was unique. To share or confer with the other apostles would have risked compromising his apostolic authority by opening up the possibility that he did not speak independently. His going into Arabia under the direction of the Spirit made it clear that he was quite conscious from the start what his calling meant. God had not revealed Christ directly to him and bypassed the existing apostles without good reason. It was to make Paul an independent witness, though he was in perfect agreement with the other witnesses. What did he do in Arabia? He does not say, but in such a sparsely populated area it was not to begin his work of preaching. More likely he went there to pray, to spend time studying the Scripture, and to receive further revelation. This land became for him the school of Christ where he was tutored with private lessons. ‘Not a novice’ is the rule of Scripture and even an apostle must learn. In addition, Paul was led into Arabia by the Spirit away from the immediate danger presented by the Jews.Remembering his purpose in saying all this, we note that in Arabia he was hardly in a position to receive his gospel from men. After this he returned directly to Damascus and preached there some considerable time. ‘Many days’ passed before the Jews plotted against his life, and immediately before this Luke tells us that Paul was busy proving that Jesus is the very Christ. Eventually he was forced to depart from Damascus to escape with his life. He describes in 2 Corinthians 11:32-33, and Luke relates in Acts 9:23-25, how he escaped in a basket let down from the city wall. This was an ignoble departure for the apostle of Jesus Christ but was symptomatic of what he would have to suffer for the gospel from that time onwards. This took place after many days (Acts 9:23), after he had ‘increased the more in strength and confounded the Jews... proving that this is very Christ’ (Acts 9:22). The Jews heard the power of his reasoning and must have been appalled that they now had to contend with a far stronger and better equipped enemy than they had ever encountered before. It must have seemed utterly extraordinary to them that the man could undergo such a change and be entirely sincere in teaching the faith which he once persecuted. They had had time to assess the situation and they responded with a plan to seize him. Luke passes over the time in Arabia and records next (Acts 9:26) his arrival in Jerusalem, though we know from Galatians that there was an intervening three year gap. After departing from Damascus for the second time, he heads for Jerusalem (Acts 9:26).