The Bible Study Podcast, episode 164. Today, the Bible Study podcast finishes the study of the book of Acts.

Welcome to the Bible Study podcast. I'm your host, Chris Christensen. That's right. We are finally at Acts 28. This took us

27 different episodes, so half a year, but we are finishing the book of Acts today.

That does mean that next week we'll be starting a study on money, and I'd be interested in any

questions you have about that. Send them to host at thebiblicalstudypodcast.com.

Acts 28. Remember at this point, Paul has been imprisoned because of the riot that started

three chapters ago in Jerusalem, and then they tried to kill him after he was at the Sanhedron,

and he testified before Felix and Festus and Agrippa, and finally got sent to Rome because he had appealed to Rome as a Roman citizen, that being his right.

It was not a good voyage. There was a shipwreck, and he ends up on the island of Malta, which is what we learn today.

Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta.

The islanders showed us unusual kindness.

They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold.

Paul gathered a pile of brushwood, and as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out

by the heat, fastened itself on his hand.

When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to one another, this man must be a murderer. For though he escaped the sea, justice has not allowed him to live. But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and suffered no ill effects. The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island.

He welcomed us to his home, and for three days entertained us hospitably.

His father was sick in bed, suffering from

fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him, and after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed

him. When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured. They

honored us in many ways, and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed.

So the people of Malta here have an

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