People in Paul's Life
1 - Gamaliel
We begin our series on some of the people who feature in the life of Paul with a man who had possibly the biggest influence on him before his conversion.
Gamaliel was a man who had a huge influence on many people, but is only mentioned once in connection with Paul’s life. We read about this in Acts chapter 22 and verse 3. Paul had been arrested in the Temple at Jerusalem, but after being beaten, was allowed to speak to the crowd who witnessed the event. He tells them that he was brought up a devout Jew who was zealous for God, having been taught by Gamaliel. He had been taught the details of the Law and the Jewish customs and to follow them to the letter.
If we turn back in our Bibles to Acts chapter 5 we read in verse 34 that Gamaliel was a Pharisee, so he was a very religious person who followed the Law diligently. We also read that he was highly respected as “a teacher of the law” and all that the Pharisees believed. In fact we read that he was, “held in respect by all the people.” So, as a result of this man’s teaching, and the fact that his father was a Pharisee, Paul became well versed in the Law. We read this in Philippians chapter 3 and verse 5.
As well as being a teacher of the Law, Gamaliel was a member of the supreme Jewish Court of Justice in Jerusalem known as the Sanhedrin. He was present when Peter and John were on trial and became their ally by persuading the court to be lenient with the apostles. I suspect there was a reason for this. He probably didn’t want to see the court divided on such an important issue, as this would have lost them a lot of credibility among the majority of the population and with the Roman authority.
However, before he spoke to the court he asked that the apostles be taken outside. I believe he did this because he didn’t want them to think he supported them by speaking on their behalf. In fact what he was saying was, do not oppose them, but don’t support them either. Although at first reading it might appear that Gamaliel was siding with the apostles, he wasn’t. We don’t read anywhere that he came to believe that Jesus was the Son of God and the promised Messiah, and that he had come to take the punishment for the sins of the people who included Gamaliel, and include us today.
To support his leniency he names two men who had previously tried to start new sects which they did not approve of. In both cases, when these men died their followers were dispersed.
Gamaliel knew that these men had been acting on their own ideas and that their actions were not of God. He tells the court that if these men had been called by God there would have been lasting results.
In verse 38 of Acts chapter 5 there is a small word that appears twice. It is the word, ‘if’. Gamaliel knew the power of God and that if these men (speaking of the apostles) were preaching something they had thought up themselves, there would be no lasting results and their organisation would soon come to an end, and would no longer be a threat to their influence among the people. But if they were acting under the guidance of God, there was nothing the court could do to stop them, as they would be fighting God, and that God could not be beaten.
By sending the apostles out of the courtroom he was showing the other members of the council that he was not taking sides with the apostles. If they had been allowed to remain they (that is the apostles) would have been led to believe that he supported them. In other words he wanted to be on both sides without either side knowing. He wanted to support the council, but he also wanted to do what was right in God’s eyes. This is something that was condemned by Christ who said that you are either with Him or against Him. We read this in Matthew chapter 12 and verse 30. We also read in Matthew 6 and verse 24 that you cannot faithfully support two masters; referring man and God.
Gamaliel can be likened to many people today who claim to be Christians, but are very broadminded and tolerant of what goes on around them. This shows a lack of conviction concerning what God has revealed through His Son, Jesus Christ.
Gamaliel, as we have already said, was a respected teacher of the Law, but he only taught the Law as given through Moses and the various traditions that had been added to the Law over the ages. These traditions, in the eyes of the Pharisees, were as important as, if not more important than the Law itself. This was wrong in God’s eyes as the Israelites had been told by Moses not to add to or take anything from the Law, but to keep the Law as it had been given them. We read this in Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 2, and in chapter 12 and verse 32. Why shouldn’t the people add to it? Because the writer of the book of Proverbs tells us in chapter 30, verses 6 and 7 that “Every word of God is pure” and “Do not add to His words.” This means that if anything is added to it, or taken from it, it is no longer the pure word of God.
Gamaliel, like the majority of other Jews at the time, was still waiting for the Messiah to come, as the Jews did not accept that Jesus was the promised One. Jesus, when speaking to His disciples in what we call the Sermon on the Mount said,“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” That’s in Matthew chapter 5, verse 17. In other words, He had not come to make the law and the writings of the prophets obsolete, but to make them complete. The Pharisees, including Gamaliel, could not accept this and therefore didn’t teach it.
Paul’s knowledge of the law that he had been taught by Gamaliel came in useful when he visited synagogues on his missionary journeys. He preached Christ as the fulfilment of what the law stated and what the prophets prophesied. His preaching had to be accurate and not conflict with the law because he was preaching to religious Jews. Some of these, especially those living in Berea, “searched the Scriptures” at every opportunity to make sure Paul was quoting them accurately.
We also see evidence of Paul’s knowledge of the law coming out when he wrote to the church at Rome. He told them in Romans chapter 3 and verse 20, that the law gives knowledge of sin and in Romans chapter 7 and verse 7, that the realisation of sin in his own life came through his knowledge of the law.
I see Paul as being a model student during his time with Gamaliel because we read of him saying in his letter to the Galatians, chapter 1 and verse 15, “I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.”
We see therefore from our study of Gamaliel that, although he taught what we now know as the Old Testament correctly, he did not recognise that this was not sufficient for people living at that time, and indeed today. Paul tells us later that all Scripture is inspired by God and not just part of it. We also learn from him that you have to make a decision in life concerning your relationship with God because God sees no room for compromise.
What is your relationship with God? Is there a total commitment to the life He has called you to?