ued them to Damascus, to try and bring them back to Jerusalem, but he met the Lord on the Damascus Road and was converted. He was struck blind, and then regained his sight when he met Ananias. (Acts 9:1-18). He began preaching straight away in Damascus (Acts 9:19-22). Then there is a time lapse, described in Acts 9:23 as "after many days". This is the time referred to in Galatians 1:17 when he went to Arabia and then returned to Damascus. Not the Sinai Peninsula as some might suppose, but more likely the Arabian desert just outside Damascus. After his return to Damascus the Jews plotted to kill him, but he discovered their plot and was let down the wall in a basket and made his way to Jerusalem, accompanied by Barnabas. This is the visit mentioned in Galatians 1:18, three years after his conversion, so the date is 35AD.
It turned out to be a disappointing visit. The Believers in Jerusalem were afraid of him because of the way he had previously persecuted them, and didn't accept him as a genuine Believer. Even though Barnabas spoke up for him, the most they would do was provide him with a safe escort in and out of Jerusalem, and then they sent him back to his home town of Tarsus. (Acts 9:26-30). Nothing is heard of him again for a few years, until Acts 11:25, where we read that Barnabas went to Tarsus to find him and bring him to Antioch.
During that time, while Paul was absent, the following events occurred:
As a postscript to the dialogue about Peter and Cornelius, and the ministry to the Gentiles, the book of Acts refers back to the stoning of Stephen and the persecution that caused the Believers in Jerusalem to be scattered. It says they went as far as Phenice, Cyprus and Antioch, and makes the curious remark that they preached only to Jews, but some other people, presumably their converts in Cyprus and Cyrene, came to Antioch and began preaching to the Greeks, and in it's context this must mean they preached to Gentiles, not to Greek-speaking Jews. (Acts 11:19-21).
It seems that the Jews who came from Jerusalem were reluctant to preach to anyone except their fellow Jews, but the people who lived elsewhere felt more at ease among the Gentiles and were more willing and able to communicate with them. However, this does not mean they were preaching a sanitised Gentile Gospel, devoid of the Torah. It was still a Jewish message, preached mostly by Jews. The message was the same, and only the audience had changed, and until the Council of Jerusalem met in 50AD they were expected to fully convert to Judaism in order to believe in the Jewish Messiah.
When news of what was going on in Antioch reached the church in Jerusalem, they sent Barnabas to Antioch. The first thing he did was to go to Tarsus and get his old friend Paul, and they worked together for a year, building up the church. (Acts 11:21-26).
What was the date when Barnabas went to get Paul? This can be tentatively worked out from the prophecy of Agabus about the famine, and the appointment of Claudius Caesar as Emperor.
And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be a great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. (Acts 11:27-28).
Claudius was appointed Emperor in 41AD, and this verse implies that the prophecy was made before his appointment. "In these days" means the year when Paul and Barnabas were in Antioch, so Barnabas must have gone to Tarsus to get Paul in 40AD at the latest.
Paul had been left in relative obscurity since 35AD and it must have been a difficult time. He knew that G-d had called him as the Apostle to the Gentiles, but his recent history of persecuting the Believers prevented him from carrying it out. In any case, the church was not yet ready for ministry to the Gentiles. When Barnabas came to get him, he must have been very much relieved.
He enjoyed a year of ministry in Antioch from about 40-41AD, and then he went to Jerusalem on his famine relief visit in 46AD. It is not clear what he was doing