estimates of the results of this conversion of
Saul cannot be too large; they are world wide.

PERIOD OF WAITING

+Retirement of Paul.+--From the conversion of Paul
(Acts 9:3-7) to his call to the missionary work (Acts
13:2) is a period of about ten years. During this time
we have only incidental notices of him and what he was
doing. When we think of it there is nothing strange in
this retirement. It is the divine method, as in the case of
Moses, when a man is to do a very large work for God
that he should be well prepared for it. The chief
scripture notices of this period of retirement are found in
Acts 9:19-30; Gal. 1:15-24; (Acts 11:25-30; 12:25).
From these notices it is quite plain: (a) That Paul retired
into Arabia. (b) That he preached in Damascus and
Jerusalem, but was compelled to flee from both cities on
account of the persecutions of the Jews, who sought his
life. (c) That he went to Tarsus and "into the regions of
Syria and Cilicia." (d) That he came to Antioch, where
there was a great revival (Acts 11:25-30), at the
solicitation of Barnabas. Luke in his account (Acts 9:19-30)
does not mention the trip to Arabia spoken of by Paul in
his epistle to the Galatians (1:15-24). It must be
remembered however that each is writing from a
different point of view. Luke is a historian recording only the
most salient facts and passing over the mention of many
events. We see this in the compression in eight and a
half short chapters of the events of the three missionary
journeys. Paul writing to the Galatians is anxious to
establish the fact that he received his commission, as an
apostle, not from man, but from Christ himself (Gal. 1:1);
hence he enters more into details and we get from him the
inside view. The accounts of Luke and Paul if read
carefully, keeping in mind all the circumstances, are seen not
to be in any way antagonistic, but to supplement each other.

+Reasons.+--Many reasons have been given for the
retirement of Paul to Arabia, and what seems to be the
period of comparative inactivity that followed it.

1. Fierce opposition on the part of the Jews whenever
Paul attempted to preach, as in the cities of Damascus
and Jerusalem.

2. A preparation of mind and heart for his great
work. As a thinker he needed to look upon all sides of
the gospel, which he was afterwards to preach so
effectively to the Gentiles.

3. A careful rereading of the Old Testament. As a
Jew he had read