Acts 21:26

Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them went into the temple, declaring the fulfillment of the days of purification, until the offering was offered for every one of them.

So far, so good. It might have seemed that all was well, that everything would be all right, that all the Jewish Christians would behold what a noble Jew Paul really was; but Jesus had spoken of that temple, calling it a "den of thieves and robbers," and accusing its masters of committing murder in the sanctuary itself; and before the week ended the Lord's church would have new evidence that he had spoken the truth.

It is here that the third journey of Paul ended, with the bounty delivered, and with Paul going the second and third miles in a vain effort to mollify the Judaizers. Paul had traveled some 3,400 miles, suffering countless hardships, and extending himself to the limit of human endurance on behalf of the gospel of Christ.

Thus the fabulous missionary journeys of Paul were concluded. According to De Welt, a period of about eight years was required for all the events connected with those journeys, from about 50 A.D. to about 58 A.D. These journeys established a large number of Gentile congregations throughout a large portion of the Roman Empire and proved the amazing success of the Lord's great apostle to the Gentile world. During this period, Galatians, 1,2Corinthians, 1,2Thessalonians, and Romans had been written and sent on their way through history. In a real sense, these eight years were crucial to the spread of Christianity throughout the world.