Note 1 at Acts 14:19: What a change! Just a short time before, these same people had thought Paul and Barnabas were gods and wanted to do sacrifice to them. This same attitude swing happened to the people in Jerusalem who welcomed Jesus one day with cheers (Mt. 21:8-9; Mk. 11:9-10; Lk. 19:37-38; Jn. 12:13) and then yelled for his crucifixion just a few days latter (Mt. 27:20-23; Mk. 15:11-14; Lk. 23:18-23; Jn. 19:12-15).

The Lord did not create man to operate independent of Him. Only a person with the Lord at the center of his life is truly stable. Surly, "every man at his best state is altogether vanity" (Ps. 39:5).

Note 2 at Acts 14:19: Stoning was an ancient means of capital punishment. The Lord gave stoning to Moses as the method of execution for most crimes (Lev. 20:2; 24:14). The victim was to be stoned without the city (Lev. 24:14; 1 Ki. 21:13; Lk. 4:29; Acts 7:58), with the witness or witnesses laying their hands on his head as a symbol that the guilt was the victim's alone.

Paul had participated in the stoning of the church's first martyr, Stephen (Acts 7:58), and he no doubt was stirred to remember what it must have been like for Stephen who was now his brother in the Lord. According to 2 Cor. 11:25, this is the only time Paul was stoned.