Acts 21:1-14
21 After saying farewell to the Ephesian elders, we sailed straight to the island of Cos. The next day we reached Rhodes and then went to Patara. 2 There we boarded a ship sailing for Phoenicia. 3 We sighted the island of Cyprus, passed it on our left, and landed at the harbor of Tyre, in Syria, where the ship was to unload its cargo.
4 We went ashore, found the local believers, and stayed with them a week. These believers prophesied through the Holy Spirit that Paul should not go on to Jerusalem. 5 When we returned to the ship at the end of the week, the entire congregation, including women and children, left the city and came down to the shore with us. There we knelt, prayed, 6 and said our farewells. Then we went aboard, and they returned home.
7 The next stop after leaving Tyre was Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed for one day. 8 The next day we went on to Caesarea and stayed at the home of Philip the Evangelist, one of the seven men who had been chosen to distribute food. 9 He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophecy.
10 Several days later a man named Agabus, who also had the gift of prophecy, arrived from Judea. 11 He came over, took Paul’s belt, and bound his own feet and hands with it. Then he said, “The Holy Spirit declares, ‘So shall the owner of this belt be bound by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and turned over to the Gentiles.’”12 When we heard this, we and the local believers all begged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.
13 But he said, “Why all this weeping? You are breaking my heart! I am ready not only to be jailed at Jerusalem but even to die for the sake of the Lord Jesus.”14 When it was clear that we couldn’t persuade him, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”
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Again, Luke gives us the details of the journey, even noting that they passed the island of Cypress on the left. But why the seemingly contradictory prophesies from the Holy Spirit? Or were these messages the same as what was given to Paul by the Holy Spirit earlier? The message must have been the same–the difference was in how Paul received it. He received it willingly, and the believers received it was as a warning.
They thought they were to warn Paul, but he already knew. To Paul, it was just a confirmation of what he already knew. And he did not opt out. He states in verse 13 that he was ready for whatever would happen, even if it meant death.