Zeus and Hermes?

Zeus and Hermes in Lystra?

ACTS 14 COMMENTARY ◄
Acts 14:5-11 Lystra and Derbe

Acts 14:12-18 Zeus and Hermes?

Acts 14:19-28 Paul Stoned

ACTS 14:12-13 12 And Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13 Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the multitudes.

To whom were they "intending to sacrifice" (Acts 14:12)?
To Paul and Barnabas, whom they mistook for their pagan 'gods' "Zeus" and "Hermes" (Acts 14:12).

Why did they call Paul, Hermes and Barnabas, Zeus, and not vice versa?
In their idolatry, Hermes was the messenger of Zeus. Since Paul was the "chief speaker" (Acts 14:11), they thought Paul was the messenger for Barnabas, whom they thought was Zeus.

ACTS 14:14 14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out

What did Paul and Barnabas do when they realized that the Lycaonians intended to worship them?
They "tore their clothes" (Acts 14:14).

Why?
It was the way to express extreme outrage and anguish back then. Paul and Barnabas were outraged and anguished that a work of God was being credited to them and that people were about to worship them.

How should pastors react today when people fawn over them?

ACTS 14:15-18 15 and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, 16 who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. 17 Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.” 18 And with these sayings they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them.

What is Paul's message to the Lycaonians of Lystra?
We are "men" (Acts 14:15). Your 'gods' are "useless" (Acts 14:15) idols. The real God is "living" (Acts 14:15), the Creator of "the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them" (Acts 14:15) and the one who has been providing for you with "rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness" (Acts 14:17). Since the Lycaonians were unfamiliar with the Old Testament, Paul declared the Lord to them using realities with which they were familiar.

Did the Lycaonians listen to Paul?
Enough not to sacrifice to them, but only barely: "they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them" (Acts 14:18).

When a bridge being built from both banks of a river fit together perfectly over the middle of the river, did that bridge arise by random accident or was it designed by an architect?

What proof of Himself did the Creator God give to all people?
His creation that is all around them, including "the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them" (Acts 14:15), "rain from heaven and fruitful seasons" (Acts 14:17).

How do atheists claim God's creation originated?
As explained by Fred Hoyle's "Big Bang" Theory and Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution.

What did Fred Hoyle and Charles Darwin admit about their theories later in their lives that today's atheists are loathe to admit?
Click here.