This would be a good time to check out the maps in the back of your Bible, Study Bible, or Bible Dictionary of Paul’s missionary travels. Also read your Bible Dictionary’s article on Paul. This week’s reading covers almost all of Paul’s second missionary journey and much of his third missionary journey. Notice on your maps how much overlap there is in the various journeys. Paul is not content to just lead these new converts to Christ for salvation but wants them to grow in their faith and discipleship. He wants the churches he has started to be thriving and healthy. He will revisit the places where he had physically suffered for Christ and didn’t let the opposition intimidate him. Don’t miss the information in Acts 16:6 that indicates the Holy Spirit is directing Paul’s missionary activities. The Roman Province of Asia where Paul was forbidden by the Holy Spirit to evangelize was what we would refer to as Western Asia Minor or the Western part of Turkey. It’s the area where the seven churches were located that were addressed by John in the book of Revelation. The Spirit now directs Paul to take the Gospel to Europe.
In Acts 16:10 you’ll notice the pronoun ‘we’ being used. This indicates that Luke is now joining Paul in his evangelizing efforts. There are a total of five ‘we’ sections in the book of Acts. You’ll want to watch for them as you continue to read the book of Acts. You may notice more detail in these accounts since Luke was an eyewitness and was not depending on his personal research (Luke 1:3).
The first city that Paul spent some time in preaching in Europe was Philippi. Philippi was a Roman Colony, and its citizens would have been Roman citizens. Paul will later write a letter to the church that he starts in this city. On the Sabbath Day, Paul, Silas, and Luke find a prayer meeting outside of the city where some God-fearing women have assembled to pray. Apparently, there was no Synagogue in Philippi. Luke tells us that a women named Lydia was listening to what Paul was saying and the Lord opened her heart to believe (Acts 16:14). Lydia, we are told was from the city of Thyatira which ironically is in the Roman Province of Asia that Paul had been forbidden to evangelize (Acts 16:6). Thyatira was known for its purple dye that unlike most purple dye made from shellfish the purple dye from Thyatira was made from madder root. The ISBE says the color that is made from this root is now called Turkish Red. Lydia invited Paul, Silas, and Luke to stay in her house while they brought the Gospel message to the people of Philippi. Philippi, being a Roman Colony, was under the Roman legal system. After Paul had cast a demon out of a slave girl that was annoying him charges were brought against him for promoting customs illegal in Roman Law (Acts 16:21). It’s interesting to note how the various translations render the Greek text in verse 22. The CSB has “the chief magistrates stripped off their clothes and ordered them to be beaten with rods.” The question becomes ‘Whose clothes were stripped off?’ Was it the magistrates who stripped off their own clothes or was it Paul and Silas whose clothes were stripped off? William Ramsey wrote what has become a classic on the book of Acts. He took it that the magistrates stripped off their own clothes. He wrote, “It is evident that the Prætors made a great to-do over this case: they regarded it as a case of treason, or, as it was termed in Greek, “impiety” (ἀσέβεια), rent their clothes in loyal horror, with the fussy, consequential airs that Horace satirises in the would-be Prætor of a country town (Sat. I 5, 34)…” Some translations leave it somewhat ambiguous and others such as the NIV specify that it was Paul and Silas that received such treatment. Paul may be referring to this incident in 1 Thess 2:2 when he writes, “On the contrary, after we had previously suffered and were treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know.”
Paul would not have been surprised by this mistreatment at Philippi see Acts 9:16.
In Acts 16:10 you’ll notice the pronoun ‘we’ being used. This indicates that Luke is now joining Paul in his evangelizing efforts. There are a total of five ‘we’ sections in the book of Acts. You’ll want to watch for them as you continue to read the book of Acts. You may notice more detail in these accounts since Luke was an eyewitness and was not depending on his personal research (Luke 1:3).
The first city that Paul spent some time in preaching in Europe was Philippi. Philippi was a Roman Colony, and its citizens would have been Roman citizens. Paul will later write a letter to the church that he starts in this city. On the Sabbath Day, Paul, Silas, and Luke find a prayer meeting outside of the city where some God-fearing women have assembled to pray. Apparently, there was no Synagogue in Philippi. Luke tells us that a women named Lydia was listening to what Paul was saying and the Lord opened her heart to believe (Acts 16:14). Lydia, we are told was from the city of Thyatira which ironically is in the Roman Province of Asia that Paul had been forbidden to evangelize (Acts 16:6). Thyatira was known for its purple dye that unlike most purple dye made from shellfish the purple dye from Thyatira was made from madder root. The ISBE says the color that is made from this root is now called Turkish Red. Lydia invited Paul, Silas, and Luke to stay in her house while they brought the Gospel message to the people of Philippi. Philippi, being a Roman Colony, was under the Roman legal system. After Paul had cast a demon out of a slave girl that was annoying him charges were brought against him for promoting customs illegal in Roman Law (Acts 16:21). It’s interesting to note how the various translations render the Greek text in verse 22. The CSB has “the chief magistrates stripped off their clothes and ordered them to be beaten with rods.” The question becomes ‘Whose clothes were stripped off?’ Was it the magistrates who stripped off their own clothes or was it Paul and Silas whose clothes were stripped off? William Ramsey wrote what has become a classic on the book of Acts. He took it that the magistrates stripped off their own clothes. He wrote, “It is evident that the Prætors made a great to-do over this case: they regarded it as a case of treason, or, as it was termed in Greek, “impiety” (ἀσέβεια), rent their clothes in loyal horror, with the fussy, consequential airs that Horace satirises in the would-be Prætor of a country town (Sat. I 5, 34)…” Some translations leave it somewhat ambiguous and others such as the NIV specify that it was Paul and Silas that received such treatment. Paul may be referring to this incident in 1 Thess 2:2 when he writes, “On the contrary, after we had previously suffered and were treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know.”
Paul would not have been surprised by this mistreatment at Philippi see Acts 9:16.
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