Wednesday Bible Study: F is for Felix, and Festus- and who?

The path of Acts 22-25- between the Jerusalem arrest of Paul and the decision to send him to Rome- is full of interesting characters who come together in some odd ways, including three guys whose names start with F.  Now there are only three people in the entire Bible whose names start with F, and 2 of them are in this story!  So that means I'm going to throw in at least one extra-Biblical character as well.  So hang on!


We start with one Claudius Lysias, who had the misfortune of being the Tribune (think chief Roman Army officer) in Jerusalem at the time when, as Paul defended his faith before the Jews of the city, other Jews from Asia came in and accused him of being an apostate.  So Lysias did what any good Tribune would do- he arrested Paul and decided to beat the truth from him.  But then, he finds out he is about to commit the big boo-boo of the age- beat a Roman with citizenship.  Then he compounded it, thinking he was going to compare how much HE paid for citizenship to what Paul, a Jew, paid for his.  But Paul was born in Tarsus- a Roman city- and thus was born a Roman, and Lysias made a fool of himself a second time.  When he got word from Paul's family that the Jews intended to force the jail and kill him, he decided third time a fool might just be it for him; thus he sent him on to the Roman ruler of the area.


In the interrogation by Lysias, we learn a little about the next guy on the list.  According to Josephus, there was a Jew who came out of Egypt just before this- no one knew his name, thus Lysias calls him "the Egyptian".  He was a false prophet who thought to take advantage of future prophecy, assemble a rebel army on the Mount of Olives and force the Romans out, but the Procurator- Antonius Felix, our next contestant and first F- hit them first, killed "about 400" of them, and the Egyptian fled down a rabbit hole into obscurity, until Lysias asked if he and Paul were the same.

Felix was at the same moment fascinating and disgusting.  His basic means of keeping the Zealots (Jewish rebels) in hand was by playing an even more radical group, the Sicarii (who may or may not have been the Iscarii of Judas Iscariot fame) against them.  He used a court magician named Simon or Atomus to persuade Drusilla, the beautiful Jewish wife of another king, to leave him and marry Felix (said magician possibly but not probably being identified with the Simon Magus who tried to "buy" the Holy Spirit from Peter earlier in Acts).  Drusilla was a study in herself:  Her great great grandfather killed the babies of Bethlehem; her great uncle beheaded John the Baptist; her father killed James the brother of John.  No doubt, she figured to witness the next in a long line of Satan's attacks against God's plan.  Felix himself, was vain, greedy, and corrupt; he sat on Paul's case for two years figuring SOMEONE would pay him to let him out.  In the meantime, he talked with Paul, and Paul explained his faith in Christ.  Felix's reaction was much like the reactions of the demons that led him:

Act 24:24  Then after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. 
Act 24:25  And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and the Judgment to come, Felix trembled and answered, Go for this time, but taking time later, I will call for you. 

" The devils also know... and tremble."

So Paul sits for the two years, probably AD 59-60, and Felix never does get his bribe.  However, he does get in trouble, and heads back to Rome.  Drusilla?  She and her son get buried a few years on in Pompeii when Vesuvius blows.

That brings us to our second F, Felix's replacement, Porcius Festus.  Felix had left Paul in jail, because he was in trouble for the way he treated the Jews and thought that might be some help to him.  Festus, however, was a just man.  He heard the whole case, including Paul's side of the story.  Festus thought perhaps he could be fair to everyone by having the case heard in Jerusalem- which was when words that would shake the world were next spoken:

Act 25:10  But Paul said, I stand at Caesar's judgment seat, where I ought to be judged. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you very well know. 

Act 25:11  For if I am an offender or have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die. But if there is nothing of which these accuse me, no one can deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar. 

Act 25:12  Then conferring with the sanhedrin, Festus answered, You have appealed to Caesar? To Caesar you shall go. 

Realizing he had no clue to the intricacies of Jewish law, Festus soon availed himself of the visiting Herod Agrippa II current king in Judea, along with his sister Berenice.  Now Berenice was the older sister of Drusilla, and according to more than one source, was in an incestuous relationship with HA2.  Let me step away from her for just a moment and back to our story.  Herod and Berenice got to listen to Paul- his story and his evangelism- and it got to a point that Herod makes the stunning admission:

Act 26:24  And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, "Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind." 

Act 26:25  But Paul said, "I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. 

Act 26:26  For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. 

Act 26:27  King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe." 

Act 26:28  And Agrippa said to Paul, "In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?" 

Act 26:29  And Paul said, "Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am--except for these chains." 

So while the logical and rational Festus thought Paul had slipped a cog, HA2 knew of what Paul was saying- and even felt the tug of his words.  But in our story, where similarities between the characters and other NT characters- Lysias like Simon Magus supposing money makes the man; Felix trembling like demons at the name of the Lord; Drusilla and Berenice quietly complicit in evil like their kinswoman Herodias (and Berenice sleeping with her brother like Herodias)- we now have Festus playing the stoic Roman like Pilate, and HA2 playing the part of the rich young ruler who was almost persuaded by Christ- until he would have to give something up.

Despite thinking Paul was nuts, Festus remained just- telling HA2 that he could have released Paul without charges, had he not appealed to Rome.  Possibly as a result of that mercy, he was spared the crapstorm approaching by dying just years later.  And in his place comes our last, and extra-Biblical, F, one Gessius Florus, who would come into the picture in the year AD 64.  He did everything he could to promote Greeks over Jews in Judea, despite Berenice's attempts to get him to lay off.  She may have been a tad immoral, and had a lot of pull (she ends up marrying the future emperor Titus), but she did love her people.  Perhaps if her brother had chipped in a little more, but he was a hellenophile like Florus.  Florus wasn't a partial fool like Lysias, he went full bore- arresting a group of Jewish leaders who came to plead their case, having them whipped and crucified DESPITE their Roman citizenship.  (How does such an idiot get put in charge?  Apparently, the old old story- his wife was buddies with Nero's wife, believe it or not!)  And both got run out of town by the Great Jewish Revolt that started in AD 66.

I imagine our takeaway here is the characters of the people involved, and the consequences of that character. As well as, to you Bible-doubters, that Paul was well known to several historical characters, who heard his message- though none got anything out of it.  But Paul was not discouraged, because their lack of listening led to the listening and saving of many alive in Rome and on the way there.  It reminds me of a story I just read, about a guy who made the USC football team a long time back.  He considered his team a mission field.  He held Bible studies that no one signed up for.  He organized prayer meetings that no one came to.  And the day after he gifted his teammates each a Bible, he found ripped up Bibles strewn across the locker room.  He was crushed.

But four years later, he was contacted by someone who knew one of those players- and that player kept his Bible and was saved through it.  Why did this guy go on? The same reason Paul did, and why I do these posts- in hopes for that one guy.