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

The Lord did not create mankind to operate independently of Him. Only people with the Lord at the center of their lives are truly stable. Surely "every man at his best state is altogether vanity" (Ps 39:5).

Note 2 at Ac 14:19: Stoning was an ancient means of capital punishment. The Lord gave stoning to Moses as the method of execution for most crimes (Le 20:2 and 24:14). The guilty were to be stoned outside the city (Le 24:14, 1Ki 21:13, Lu 4:29, and Ac 7:58), with the witnesses laying their hands on the condemned's heads as a symbol that the guilt was theirs alone.

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