The Word This Week
Acts 16:11…
Having been directed supernaturally through a vision in the night, Paul, Silas, Timothy, and now Luke, headed west toward Europe.
The first order of business was to travel over land to Troas and then arrange passage by ship across the Aegean Sea to Macedonia. (Modern day Greece.)
Passing by Neapolis they arrived at Philippi.
Philippi was the largest city in that region and was a Roman colony. This means it was meant to be a model of Rome, filled with Roman citizens and protected by the Roman army and retired members from the Roman army. The idea was that in these outposts, referred to as ‘colonies’ of Rome, it would be a little taste of Rome away from Rome. Everything which took place there would resemble Rome as much as possible, to give the world an idea of what Rome was like.
There was no synagogue at Philippi – which means there were fewer than ten Jewish men living there. (To have a synagogue it was required to have at least ten Jewish men in membership.)
Since there was no synagogue in which to gather, it was Jewish custom to gather by a nearby river, as a river would represent ‘living water.’ In this case it would have been the Gangites River, which flowed near Philippi.
Following their usual pattern of seeking the Jews first, finding no synagogue, and being aware of the custom of the Jews meeting by a local river, Paul and the team headed to the river on the Sabbath day to preach the Word to the handful Jews they anticipated would be gathered there.
There they met a businesswoman named Lydia, a seller of purple, which would have been a very lucrative business in those days. (Purple was the color of royalty, worn by only the wealthiest of Roman citizens, including the emperor and the members of the Roman government. No one else could afford anything dyed purple. It was THE outward sign of wealth and power.)
Lydia, a God-fearing Gentile from Thyatira who worshiped the Jewish God, listened intently to Paul’s presentation of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and she and her entire household were saved and water-baptized in the river.
These were the first western Europeans to be saved, and they became the basis of a new church which loved Paul and supported his ministry the remainder of his life.
Pastor Bill
Having been directed supernaturally through a vision in the night, Paul, Silas, Timothy, and now Luke, headed west toward Europe.
The first order of business was to travel over land to Troas and then arrange passage by ship across the Aegean Sea to Macedonia. (Modern day Greece.)
Passing by Neapolis they arrived at Philippi.
Philippi was the largest city in that region and was a Roman colony. This means it was meant to be a model of Rome, filled with Roman citizens and protected by the Roman army and retired members from the Roman army. The idea was that in these outposts, referred to as ‘colonies’ of Rome, it would be a little taste of Rome away from Rome. Everything which took place there would resemble Rome as much as possible, to give the world an idea of what Rome was like.
There was no synagogue at Philippi – which means there were fewer than ten Jewish men living there. (To have a synagogue it was required to have at least ten Jewish men in membership.)
Since there was no synagogue in which to gather, it was Jewish custom to gather by a nearby river, as a river would represent ‘living water.’ In this case it would have been the Gangites River, which flowed near Philippi.
Following their usual pattern of seeking the Jews first, finding no synagogue, and being aware of the custom of the Jews meeting by a local river, Paul and the team headed to the river on the Sabbath day to preach the Word to the handful Jews they anticipated would be gathered there.
There they met a businesswoman named Lydia, a seller of purple, which would have been a very lucrative business in those days. (Purple was the color of royalty, worn by only the wealthiest of Roman citizens, including the emperor and the members of the Roman government. No one else could afford anything dyed purple. It was THE outward sign of wealth and power.)
Lydia, a God-fearing Gentile from Thyatira who worshiped the Jewish God, listened intently to Paul’s presentation of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and she and her entire household were saved and water-baptized in the river.
These were the first western Europeans to be saved, and they became the basis of a new church which loved Paul and supported his ministry the remainder of his life.
Pastor Bill