Acts 21:10-11

Acts 21:10-11

[10] And  tarried  there many  days,  there came down  from  Judaea  a certain  prophet,  named  Agabus.  [11] And  when he was come  unto  he took  Paul's  girdle,  bound  hands  and  feet,  and said,  Thus  saith  the Holy  Ghost,  So  the Jews  at  Jerusalem  bind  the man  that  this  girdle,  and  shall deliver  him into  the hands  of the Gentiles. 

What does Acts 21:10-11 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Agabus previously had come from Jerusalem to Antioch to foretell the famine of A.D46 ( Acts 11:26-27). Now he came down to Caesarea and prophesied Paul"s arrest in Jerusalem (cf. Mark 9:31; Mark 10:33; John 21:18). He illustrated his prediction graphically as several Old Testament prophets had done (cf. 1 Kings 11:29-31; Isaiah 20:2-4; Jeremiah 13:1-7; Ezekiel 4). "This is what the Holy Spirit says," is the Christian equivalent of the Old Testament, "Thus saith the Lord." His revelation came as no surprise to Paul, of course ( Acts 21:4; Acts 9:16). Perhaps another reason Luke emphasized these prophecies was to prove to his readers that Paul"s arrest and its consequences were part of God"s foreordained will for the church"s expansion ( Acts 1:1-2; cf. Mark 10:33).