Note 8 at Acts 24:27: Paul had been imprisoned before (Acts 16:23) but just for overnight. Paul was not beaten this time and he was not isolated from his friends (v. 23), but this imprisonment must have been a much stronger trial of Paul's faith.

Paul had a burning desire in his heart to preach the gospel and his imprisonment kept him from doing that in person. He did redeem this time by writing many of his "prison epistles" but this confinement must have been frustrating. The thing that kept Paul from despairing was that he was more committed to God than the work that God had called him to. No doubt his personal relationship with the Lord is what sustained him.

Note 9 at Acts 24:27: Porcius Festus succeeded Felix (see note 2 at Acts 23:24, p. ???) as procurator of Judaea. Scholars disagree on the exact time that Festus came to power but they all place the time from 56-60 A.D.. Festus died in office, two years after taking the post.

History portrays Festus in a much better light than his predecessor Felix, but he had a very difficult situation to govern. The assassins that Felix had used to kill the Jewish high priest (see note 2 at Acts 23:24, p. ???) were growing in numbers and plundering Judaea. Festus eventually slaughtered many of these men in a military campaign. This however, did nothing to stop the growing unrest in Judaea and it was just a short 5-7 years later when a full fledged rebellion broke loose which was finally extinguished when the Roman general Titus destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D. (see note 4 at Lk. 19:43, p. 415).

Festus' place in scripture comes through his dealings with the Apostle Paul. Festus convened another hearing in Caesarea at the request of the Jews to review Paul's case (Acts 25:1-5). When Festus asked Paul if he was willing to travel to Jerusalem and stand a religious trial, Paul appealed to Caesar (Acts 25:10). It was Festus that authorized Paul's appeal to travel to Rome and be tried by Caesar.

On another occasion, when Paul was speaking of his faith before king Agrippa and Bernice (Acts 26), Festus cried out with a loud voice that Paul must be mad (Acts 26:24). This reveals a callousness on the part of Festus towards the things of God that Felix didn't have (Acts 24:25).