How different are the outcomes of life from the way we plan them, especially when the Lord intervenes! Paul had gone from Jerusalem three years before on a journey to Damascus which had resulted in such an unexpected outcome. Now he returns to Jerusalem not as his base, nor as the champion of the Jews cause, but as one who repudiated all he previously stood for, no longer having anything in common with those who initially approved his mission. He goes to Jerusalem to see Peter who would certainly have regarded Paul as an avowed enemy in former times.
One indication that he may have stayed in Arabia for the majority of the three year period is mentioned by Machen. If he had spent much time preaching in Damascus during those three years then it is less likely that the disciples in Jerusalem would have been so shy about meeting him (Acts 9:26), for they would have known that he was genuine. Luke’s many days (Acts 9:23) include the whole of the period from his first arrival in Damascus to his final departure. He had begun to preach immediately after his conversion (‘straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God’ (Acts 9:20)), but the words ‘Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ’ (Acts 9:22) indicate a longer passage of time, which must include the stay in Arabia.