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And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: [it is]
hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

The phrase “. . . it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks” is not found in many of the oldest
manuscripts. The Greek word for “pricks” means an ox goad. The Lord had been goading Saul
like a farmer goads a plowing ox headed in the wrong direction. A rebellious ox will turn and

kick against the goad. The idea behind goading an ox is that the farmer knows best.

The Lord knows what is best, and Saul has reached a crossroads in his life. He will either
continue to kick against the goad and be put to death like a rebellious ox, or he will submit his
will to God’s. Saul has reached the end of God’s patience towards him. If Saul is not stopped or
is unwilling to change, many more Christians will die at his command, and the work of the Lord
will suffer great harm.

Saul asks who is speaking to him. He is confused because he realizes it is the Lord but does not
know who the Lord is. He has fought the concept that Jesus Christ is the Lord Jehovah. Now
that he has experienced a taste of God’s power, he is willing to ask and except any answer he
receives. Saul, who has worshiped the Lord for many years, misunderstood who the Lord was.
He had been worshiping the Lord of religion. He is now confronted by what he had feared, the
Lord is Jesus Christ.

SAUL OBEYS

Act 9:6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the

Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

Act 9:7 And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing
no man.

The men with Saul do not see the vision he has. They do hear the sound of a voice, but cannot
distinguish the words that are spoken. This also happened in Jesus’ ministry when God spoke
to him from heaven; some in the crowd heard the voice as thunder and others as the voice of

an angel (John 12: 28-29).!

Act 9:8 And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but
they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.

Saul is immediately obedient to the command of the Lord. He now becomes submissive to the
one he has fought for many years. Saul opens his natural eyes and is blind. This is part of the
divine plan of the Lord. God wants Saul to experience three days of natural blindness as a
demonstration of the spiritual blindness Saul walked in his entire life (1 John 4:4).

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