Acts 16:1-18 NIV

The last few weeks at church, we've been studying this chapter in the Bible, so I thought we'd take a look at verses 1-18 for today's post. The notes in blue are a mix of my pastor's thoughts and mine.

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

1He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy
lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek.
2The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3Paul wanted to take him
along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in
that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4As they traveled from
town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in
Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5So the churches were strengthened in the
faith and grew daily in numbers.

Paul is on his second missionary journey, traveling with Silas (c. 49-52 AD) in what is modern day Turkey. Derbe and Lystra are in theregion of Galatia south central region of the country. In Lystra they meet a young man named Timothy, whose mother was a Jewish believer whose name was Eunice (2 Tim. 1:5) and whose father (name unknown) was "a Greek" , meaning a Gentile. Timothy was well known and had a good, solid reputation in Lystra and nearby Iconium. Timothy joins Paul and Silas as they teach about Jesus in the cities and towns in that area.

Paul's Vision of the Man of Macedonia

6Paul and his companions traveled
throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy
Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7When they came to
the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus
would not allow them to. 8So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.
9During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging
him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10After Paul had seen the vision, we
got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to
preach the gospel to them.

Troas is also known in history as Troy. You might have heard of a legendary battle in Greek mythology that took place there involving a large horse. Paul and his companions are prevented by the Holy Spirit from going into Asia. In v.9 Paul gets his course and are headed off to Macedonia in northern Greece which is in Europe. Notice in v. 10 the words "we"and "us." Paul has picked up a fourth companion, Luke, who is a Gentile and a physician. He is the author of the fourth book of the New Testament which bears his name and of this book of Acts. He is the only Gentile to author any part of the Bible.

Lydia's Conversion in Philippi

11From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the
next day on to Neapolis. 12From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony
and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several
days.

Samothrace is an island in the Aegean sea, approximaely half way between Troas in Asia Minor and Neapolis in Greece. Philippi, eight miles north of Neapolis, was the major city in the area, named after Philip the Macedonian who was the father of Alexander the Great. It was a Roman colony because it was the headquarters of a unit of the Roman army that was stationed there. Becasue of this, its citizens had all of the rights and priveledges that a citizen living in Rome would have had.

13On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected
to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had
gathered there. 14One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in
purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord
opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. 15When she and the members of her
household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a
believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she persuaded
us.

On Saturday Paul and his companions went down to the river to teach, because there weren't enough Jewish men to form a synagogue. Ten men were required in order to form the synagogue. Lydia's hometown was Thyatira, (known today as Akhisar) in Asia Minor. It was known in that time for it's purple dye. This was the favored color of the rich and noble, so Lydia was a travleing saleswoman, probably a single, wealthy woman, since members of her household likely included employees and slaves. It's impressive to note that Lydia was the first person on European soil to convert to Christianity, considering that women generally were not highly regarded at that time in that society.

Paul drives out a demon

16Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." 18She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I
command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her.

The word "spirit" here refers to a demon. This girl was possessed. The words that she spoke was like a taunt, even though what she was saying was true. It is very possible, though we can't know for sure, that this girl became a believer after the demon was driven out of her.

Tomorrow we'll look at verses 19-40.