We’re nearing the end of the book of Acts and everything rushes from this point forward to a surprise ending. Here in Acts 23.12-.35 we are given details of yet another plot to murder the apostle Paul. This time the conspiracy didn’t came from men unpracticed in the art of treachery, but neither was it by a secretive sect of assassins like Sicariqim. In this case the cause was taken up by 40 devote but hardened Jewish zealots who sought permission to kill Paul from none other than the high priest. These 40 men, the high priest and the temple council were all involved. As conspiracy’s go, this was huge, advancing to the highest powers of the nation of Israel. All because God chose to do a special work in and through a single man, Paul. Serving at God’s request does have its downside but ultimately it is far worse to rebel against God’s work than to take it on, as we’ll soon see.

Most translations state these 40 men bound themselves with an oath, but it was more than that. The Greek states the men vowed that should they fail in their mission that they would fall under the curse of God. This phrase, “curse of God” appears three times in the story so it is an important element. To understand the fate of these men if they should fail we need to understand what the curse of God is.

There is a curse that all mankind falls under, the curse of Genesis chapter 3. At the fall of man God handed out curses to all involved in the rebellion. First to Adam, then Eve and finally the serpent. But there was another curse, one that impacted all of humanity, the curse of damnation. From that day forward all of humanity fell under a curse that would end in eternal separation from God. Only by trusting in God could one escape this curse, and today we know how God accomplished our salvation from the curse, through Jesus’s death on the cross. But this is not likely the curse that these men vowed to submit to.

To the Jewish mind the most feared curse stems from Deuteronomy chapters 27 and 28. In Deuteronomy 27.12-.13 Moses divides the 12 tribes into two groups. Six of the tribes would stand on Mount Gerizim and be a reminder of the blessings of God; the other six tribes would stand on the opposite mountain, Mount Ebal, and be a reminder of the curses that would befall any who would not follow the commands of God. Between was a vast valley, and the illustration could not be more striking or clear. As we all walk through the valley of life we must at some point decide, will we climb Mount Gerizim and become a member of God’s family and all the blessings it offers, or will we follow our own commands up Mount Ebal and suffer the curses thereof?

The curses of Ebal were many and overwhelming. We don’t have time to cover all the curses and blessings here, but it is worth reading on your own. May it be sufficient to say that the curses are so terrible and plentiful and lasting that they eventually drive a person to madness. Everything they own, every member of their family, everywhere they wander, falls under the curse of God. So great was the hatred these men had for Paul and his teaching that they were willing to risk their lives and the curse to see him dead.

We do not know what position Paul’s nephew held in the temple, but for some reason he was present or at least nearby when the 40 were enlisting the high priest and temple authorities into their conspiracy. Overhearing the plot, he hastily made his way to Paul at the Roman barracks and then to the head of the Roman guard and informed them of all he witnessed. The Chiliarch instructed the informant to tell no one else about the plot, then commanded his nearly a third of his men to make ready and to move Paul that night to the city of Antipatris and the palace of Governor Felix. Paul’s life was spared by the swift action of the Roman guard. Luke does not tell us the fate of the 40 assassins, he didn’t have to. We know that if they did not honor their vow of refusing food and drink for forty days (and therefore die), they would fall under the curses they vowed to endure. It sounds to me like these 40 men were already under the curse, for only a madman would take such an oath in the first place.