The Lord Jesus spent a great deal of time teaching his disciples to prepare them for a day when they would “go into all the world and preach the gospel.” Much of this was done in the Lord’s mortal days, but an important part of it was done after his resurrection, when he “explained to them what was said in all scripture concerning himself,” and “opened their mind so that they could understand the scripture” (Luke, 24:27-45 NIV)
The importance of personal instruction by Christ
Those who had experienced this course of instruction were regarded by the early brethren as a special class. In particular, only those who had been through it were deemed fit to be considered for apostleship (Acts 1:21,22).
Where does that leave the apostle Paul? There appear some of his opponents who alleged that he could not have been a proper apostle. But he refuted that idea, insisting he was “in nothing behind the very chiefest apostle” (II Cor. 12:11; 11:5,6).
This implies that he, too, must have had a proper course of instruction directly from the Lord Jesus. In two other places, he says that this was indeed the case: “The gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ” (Gal. 1:11,12) and “I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you.” (I Cor. 11:23).
Where did it happen?
Since Paul does not tell us when and where he received this instruction from his lord, we are left to piece this together for ourselves. Fortunately, there is enough information scattered through the New Testament to allow us to sort out what probably happened.
It must have occurred shortly after Paul’s conversion, before his preaching work began in real earnest. It certainly did not occur on the Damascus road when, blinded and traumatized, he would have been in no fit state to absorb a great deal of doctrinal material.
Moreover, Paul said explicitly that he received his tuition some time after that encounter. He told Agrippa that the heavenly voice said to him, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting…I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will [future] show you” (Acts 26:15,16).
It is a puzzle why he gives no information about this important meeting with his Lord, to learn what he must preach. A possible explanation is that he did not like to talk about it, because it seems to have been connected with the one event in his later life of which he seems to have been ashamed.
Running away from Damascus to Sinai
In general, Paul was a man of immense courage who preferred to stay and face danger rather than run from it. (e.g. Acts 22:17-21). But there was one notable exception. When he was in danger of arrest in Damascus, he allowed the brethren to lower him down the wall in a basket so that he could make his escape.
He was not proud of this episode. When he recounted it in II Corinthians 11:30-33, he referred to it as an act of “weakness” on his part. In fact, he sounds emotionally disturbed as he writes about it judging by the curious expression, “God…knows that I am not lying,” which he slips into the narrative, for no obvious reason.
We know where he ran to. In Galatians 1:17, he tells us that he “went immediately into Arabia.” It is important not to confuse the Biblical Arabia with the modern land of Saudi Arabia. The two are quite different. The Biblical Arabia consisted of the territory in and around the Sinai peninsula. That is why, in the same epistle (4:25), Paul could speak of “Mount Sinai in Arabia.”
It must have been somewhere in this region that the resurrected Jesus appeared to Paul in the same real, bodily form, in which he appeared to the rest of the apostles. He would presumably have given Paul the same “many convincing proofs that he was alive” (Acts 1:3) that he gave the other apostles. And he would have taught Paul all the wonderful things about himself, the Old Testament and christian discipleship that he had previously taught the others. This evidently lies behind the curious language of I Corinthians 15:7,8 (KJV), “He was seen of all the apostles, and last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.” Humanly speaking, he was “born” too late to see the risen Lord in the same way as the other apostles; but it was made possible by this unique visitation of the Lord to give Paul his own course of special tuition.
Historical parallels: Moses and Elijah
There are two excellent reasons for assuming that it was actually upon, or at the foot of, Mount Sinai where this encounter took place. They are based upon the fact that biblical history has a habit of repeating itself — that God’s purpose tends to work itself out according to a pattern. And Paul’s apparent experience in “Arabia” bears an extraordinary likeness to the experiences of the two greatest preachers of the Old Testament.
From Hebrews 11:24,25, it is evident Moses knew he was called to do a great work for God. But when the going became tough, Moses panicked and ran away (Ex. 2:14,15). Later on, Moses met the Lord at the burning bush. Where? At “Horeb,” which is another name for Sinai!
Here, Moses received the command, “Go, return” (Ex. 4:19 KJV). He obeyed and from then on he was as bold as a lion, despite being faced with tremendous dangers. And thus he did his great work for God.
Similarly, Elijah had a moment of panic and despair. Afraid for his life, he ran away from the tyrannical Jezebel. Just like Moses, he ends up at Mount Sinai, where he came into contact with God (I Kgs. 19:1-15). He, too, was told “Go, return” (v.15 KJV). And he, too, went back to the former scene of his labors to face the same appalling dangers and to continue his life’s work.
If the inferences drawn about Paul are correct, then the parallels between him and his two great predecessors are remarkable. Like them, he had the early experience of panic and flight; he, too, met his Lord in Sinai, and then went back to face courageously the perils that once had terrified him. As if to draw our attention to these parallels, he even used the very word that God used in giving both Moses and Elijah their orders: “I went into Arabia and returned” (Gal. 1:17 KJV).
We really don’t know how long he spent with the Lord, but it is possible that it was 40 days. Elijah spent 40 days traveling to Sinai; Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness before starting his ministry; and the disciples spent roughly 40 days with their risen Lord before “going into all the world to preach.” And a brilliant scholar like Paul would probably have been able to learn much in an intense 40 days with the Lord.
A lesson for ourselves
In the parallel histories of these three men, there is perhaps a lesson for us. Although we haven’t actually run away to Sinai, most of us are runaways of one sort or another. Many of us suffer from the “I can’t and what’s more I won’t” syndrome. Consider a few examples.
Brother and sister A have an aged parent in a nursing home. They found it necessary to help out with the costs and, although it was a bit of a struggle, they managed it. Eventually they decided to economize by moving him to a cheaper place — and soon found that he was sick and miserable there. They have an uneasy feeling that they ought to put him back in the home where he was happy, but they can’t quite bring themselves to face the higher costs.
Sister B’s meeting is very short of Sunday School teachers, and she has been asked to take a class. She is reluctant to do so, however, because she can’t face the demands this would make on her free time.
Brother C quarreled with another brother many months ago and has snubbed him ever since. He considers the other brother so obviously in the wrong that it is up to the other brother to make the first move toward a reconciliation. Recently, his conscience was touched by the Lord’s warning, “If you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” He has not yet acted upon the admonition, however, because that would involve humbling himself, and he can’t face that.
Sister D has a dishonest employer. Whenever he thinks he can get away with it, he cheats the taxman and other people to whom he owes money. As his secretary, Sister D is indirectly involved in some of his crooked operations, and she feels she ought to speak to him about it. She hasn’t done so because she can’t face the risk of losing her job.
Perhaps none of those scenarios exactly fit one’s own circumstances. In that case, try sitting down to write one that does fit. Then try praying about it. Remember that our God is quite used to hearing His children tell Him, “I know I ought to, Lord, but I just can’t face it.”
Now visualize Him answering, “I know you can’t, on your own, but with my help, then you certainly can.” It would have been with some such assurance ringing in his ears that Paul, like Moses and Elijah before him, turned his back on the tranquility of Sinai and returned to get on with the dangerous work that God had given him.
Paul never forgot the lesson. As his life was drawing to its close, he sat confined in prison, bound with a chain, and wrote: “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Phil. 4:12,13).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One