Acts 9:3

And as he journeyed, it came to pass that he drew nigh unto Damascus: and suddenly there shone round about him a light out of heaven.

Calculated by any of the roads that might have been taken to Damascus, the distance was "between 130,150 miles, a journey of something like six days."[7] The time of this approach to Damascus was about noon (Acts 22:6); and from this it seems that Saul was pressing man and beast to the limit of endurance in his haste to execute his fury against the Christians. Wesley thought it probable that "they were traveling on foot";[8] but Howson pointed out that "we do not know how he traveled." Wesley's guess would be supported, it seems, by the fact of Paul's being "led by the hand" (Acts 22:11), which would appear to have been unnecessary if he had been riding a horse.

DAMASCUS

As Blaiklock noted, "Apart from this one historic incident, Damascus does not again figure in the New Testament."[9] The history of this city is so marvelous, however, that we may be excused if we pause to consider this "oldest city of earth."[10] It was founded before Baalbec and Palmyra and has survived both. Its fame begins with the earliest patriarchs and continues until the present times.

This city existed in prehistoric times (Genesis 14:15); David captured the city (2 Samuel 8:5); Paul the apostle was baptized there; and from it he escaped over the wall in a basket; T.E. Lawrence, whose dramatic revolt ended there, described it as "the sheath for his sword"; but "It was the place where Saul, soon to be Paul, drew his sword (that of the gospel), never to sheathe it again."[11]

Of particular interest is that "One of the ancient streets, running northeast to southwest through the city, is still named `Straight Street,' as in Acts 9:11."[12] The fabric damask is derived from the name Damascus, as is also damascene, thus memorializing the skill and ingenuity of the city's craftsmen, who also manufactured the Damascan swords borne by the Crusaders.

As Saul of Tarsus approached that ancient city, he little dreamed that it would be the end of his persecutions of Christ and the beginning of his preaching of the gospel.

[7] E. M. Blaiklock, Cities of the Old Testament (Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1965), p. 13.

[8] John Wesley, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House), in loco.

[9] E. M. Blaiklock, op. cit., p. 17.

[10] E. H. Howson, op. cit., p. 71.

[11] E. M. Blaiklock, op. cit., p. 16.

[12] New Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, Publishers, 1962), p. 288.